News
New Proposed Liquid Natural Gas Pipeline Proposed In Pickaway County
By: Kristi Murphy | Circleville Herald
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A new natural gas liquids pipeline is likely to be constructed through Pickaway County next year.
The proposed Bluegrass Pipeline will run 1,100 miles along existing corridors from the Marcellus and Utica shale region to the Gulf Coast, according to its developers Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LLC.
Locally, it will enter through the northeast part of the county and possibly travel through the Westfall Local Schools campus and then exit through the southwest part of the county.
The 24-inch pipeline will carry 200,000 barrels a day of mixed natural gas liquids with the ability to increase to 400,000 barrels a day to meet demand.
It will connect with Boardwalk’s Texas Gas Transmission LLC system in Hardinsburg, Ky.
Construction would begin in spring/summer 2014 to allow the pipeline to be fully operational by late 2015.
Wendell Hunt, from the Williams company, said pipeline representatives are already meeting with landowners to gain permission to survey. They plan to start doing environmental surveys in the next couple of weeks.
Hunt met with the Pickaway County commissioners and engineer Thursday to inform them of the plans. He is scheduled to meet with village officials in Williamsport and New Holland Friday.
He said specifics are not yet known because the project is still in development.
From the county’s perspective, commissioner Jay Wippel said the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to pipeline construction.
One of the drawbacks is the damage to roads and bridges during the construction phase, but construction workers are also contributing to sales tax revenue by staying in local hotels and shopping at local establishments.
Once the construction is complete, he said there will be real estate tax revenue increases and any township or school district the pipeline runs through will also receive more tax revenue each year.
Wippel said there are at least six pipelines in the county, including the ATEX Express Pipeline which is currently under construction.