Pipeline Construction Continues on 36 and 42 inch diameter long transmission lines
From an Article by Casey Junkins, Wheeling Intelligencer, May 19, 2015
Wheeling, WV — At a cost of $1.75 billion, the 36-inch Leach XPress pipeline through the Upper Ohio Valley is the first of $13.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects planned by Columbia Pipeline Group through 2020.
Despite a recent slowdown in drilling activity due to depressed natural gas prices, Columbia is just one of several companies building interstate pipelines in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions, all with the hope of delivering natural gas drawn from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to larger markets.
Similar projects include the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion venture of Dominion Resources and Duke Energy; the $4.3 billion Rover Pipeline, developed by ET Rover Co.; and EQT Corp.’s more than $3 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Columbia Pipeline Group is now a subsidiary of NiSource Inc., the same corporation that owns Columbia Gas of Ohio. However, the pipeline firm is scheduled to become an independent company July 1 to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CPGX.” Its capital investments are set to grow from $4.6 billion to $13.5 billion over the next five years.
“As we execute on our deep inventory of modernization and growth projects, which are underpinned by long-term, fee-based contracts, we expect to triple our net investment by 2020,” Robert C. Skaggs Jr., who will become chairman and CEO of Columbia upon its separation from NiSource.
The Leach XPress pipeline will ship dry methane natural gas southwest from a Majorsville compressor station in Marshall County to a compressor station in Ceredo, WV, near Huntington.
“Historically, we have always drawn gas from the south. Now, we can send oil and gas produced in this area to the south,” said Columbia spokesman Zane Daniels. “This is the missing link in the chain.”
The Rover Pipeline will be able to transport up to 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the local area to Michigan. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will run 330 miles south from the MarkWest Energy Mobley complex in Wetzel County to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. Zone 5 compressor station 165 in Virginia.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, planned at a length of 550 miles and a diameter of 42 inches, is designed to send natural gas southward for use in North Carolina. Amid significant public opposition in southern West Virginia and Virginia, developers are considering possible alternate routes to present for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission consideration.
“While we have not surveyed them yet, we have determined there are several alternate segments that may have less of an impact than the initially proposed route,” Leslie Hartz, vice president of pipeline construction for Dominion Transmission, said. “Surveying is necessary to determine the final route.
“No one knows their property better,” Hartz added of the landowners in question. “It is in their best interest for them to allow us to survey and talk with them about the land’s unique characteristics. We have looked at more than 3,000 miles of potential routes and have adjusted the route hundreds of times as a result of surveys and discussions with landowners.”
NOTE: These pipelines represent a taking of a valuable natural resource from our States of origin without due compensation, the taking of public and private lands for pipeline right-of-way by eminent domain for corporate gain, and the disregard for climate change (perhaps the biggest problem now facing mankind). Natural gas is almost totally methane, an exceedingly potent greenhouse gas which is often vented, it also leaks and leads to fires and explosions. This says nothing about the excess land damages especially to our national forests and the resultant water pollution. Who cares? DGN
See also: Appalachian Mountain Advocates
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