The State Journal
by Jim Ross
This summer marked some milestones for interstate natural gas pipeline projects in West Virginia.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline both received favorable recommendations in their final environmental impact statements and now await approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Meanwhile, at least two other pipelines are under construction and one is nearing the final approval stage.
Once built, the 604-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline will carry about 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from northern West Virginia to customers in Virginia and North Carolina.
“The favorable environmental report released by FERC in July gives us a clear path to final approval this fall. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll start construction later this fall and expect to be finished by late 2019,” said Aaron Ruby, media relations manager for Dominion Energy, the lead developer of the project.
Ruby said construction of the pipeline will support more than 3,000 jobs and almost $500 million in economic activity. It will also generate nearly $11 million a year in local property tax revenue for schools, roads, police, fire departments and other agencies, he said.
“Finally, this project is hugely important for West Virginia’s natural gas industry and local economies all across the state that depend on it,” Ruby said. “West Virginia is blessed with some of the nation’s largest reserves of natural gas, but a lot of that gas is trapped in the ground because we don’t have the infrastructure to get it to market. This project will provide the infrastructure West Virginia needs to get their product to market so the industry can continue creating jobs and growing the economy.”
The Mountain Valley Pipeline will run about 304 miles from the Equitrans transmission system in Wetzel County to a Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. compressor station in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It will run due south in West Virginia and then turn southeast at or near the Virginia border.
The pipeline will require the construction of new compressor stations in Wetzel, Braxton and Fayette counties. It will be up to 42 inches in diameter and will require about 50 feet of permanent easement, with 125 feet of temporary easement during construction.
“We continue to target a Q4 2017 construction start,” said Natalie Cox, spokesperson for EQT Corp., the lead developer on the project.
As with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline say their project will generate millions of dollars in economic benefit for West Virginia. Ongoing operation and maintenance of the pipeline would support a total of 54 jobs across the state with average annual wages and benefits of almost $65,000, developers say.
TransCanada has two pipelines in development in West Virginia. Construction on the Leach Xpress pipeline began in February and is expected to conclude in November of this year, said Lindsey Fought, communications specialist for TransCanada.
The Leach XPress begins in Marshall County, crosses the Ohio River into Ohio and heads west toward Columbus, Ohio, before turning south and crossing the Ohio River near the Camden Park amusement park in Huntington. It continues on a few miles until it connects with an existing compressor station at the Wayne County town of Ceredo.
The Rover pipeline from the Marcellus gas fields to Ohio is also under construction. It has had several problems related to sediment control and other permit issues, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has had to order work stopped at least twice because of those problems.
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