Pipeline expansion planned for PA

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - The Tennessee Pipeline Company, an affiliate of El Paso Energy Company, is planning to expand its natural gas transmission system in Wayne County.

The proposed system, called 300 System Expansion Project, will conduct five types of surveys along the length of the pipe that extends across the middle of Wayne County. In a letter to landowners whose property is traversed by the line, the company expressed its desire to expand its ability to bring more natural gas to the nation’s market and asked permission to enter their properties.

Additionally, The River Reporter discovered that many of the signed gas leases in Wayne and Susquehanna counties are situated close to the Tennessee Pipeline, a 23-inch line that runs from Mexico to Canada. Crossing the Delaware River near Milford, it eventually will link up with the Millennium Pipeline in a location east of Port Jervis, NY. The Millennium Pipeline, which is in the process of being expanded to 30 inches, replacing the 12-inch Columbia Pipeline, will be capable of carrying a much larger amount of gas.

“Tennessee has had many requests from producers in your area to connect to our line and we are working with them to help them get their gas to market,” said Susan Argue, public relations director of the pipeline company.

The five surveys will be a civil engineering survey, a geo-technical survey, an archeological survey, a wetlands survey and a survey to identify possible endangered species.

“The information obtained from these surveys will be included in Tennessee’s application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and to other federal and state agencies,” said Bill Fuller, contract land agent for the company. His comments appeared in a letter that was mailed to all residents along the full length of the pipeline, including Wayne County, which owns a property in Berlin Township.