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Gas Line Company To Repair Pipes In Athens County
By: Ann Jacob
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The Athens County Commissioners met Wednesday to discuss damage to its roadways caused by a company responsible for a Morgan County pipeline explosion over two years ago.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company was given a mandate to do interior inspections in all their transmission lines after the incident. The company's lines run from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.
"As a result of those investigations, they have about 18 sites in Athens County that they're going to be working on," said Athens County Engineer Jeff Maiden.
Maiden spoke with the Commissioners Wednesday. The company will be repairing large diameter gas transmission lines, re-welding joints, and replacing short sections of gas line. He said the county has made several road use maintenance agreements with the company.
"We're essentially giving them permission to travel these routes overloaded if necessary, but they've agreed to repair any damage to the county and township roads associated with those routes," Maiden said.
The routes that will be worked on may have three to four access points where the pipeline needs to be fixed.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company will "fix [the damages] themselves or they will reimburse us our cost to fix it."
Repairs have started and are set to conclude in the fall.This is the first time Athens County has made a Road Maintenance agreement.