A $1 billion pipeline transporting Marcellus and Utica shale gas may cut through Northumberland County.
Inergy MidStreat L.P., UGI Energy Services Inc. and Capitol Energy Ventures Corp. are jointly marketing and developing the 200-mile "Commonwealth Line," which will transport gas to markets in southeastern
parts of the state, including Philadelphia, and to the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas.
The current plan is to connect the line with the southern terminus of the MARC 1 Hub Line, scheduled for construction this fall, near Hughesville, Lycoming County, and run "due south" through eastern and central parts of the state. If the plan comes to fruition, it would be placed somewhere between Coal Township and Sunbury.
The line, which is expected to be in service in 2016, will include piping that measures 30 to 36 inches in diameter and will be capable of transporting up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day to interstate pipeline points and city gates. A city gate is a distribution system that connects to the pipeline and reduces the transmission rate to a safe level allowable for public usage.
Northumberland County Public Safety Director Jerome Alex said his department receives information and the necessary reports when a major utility is constructed in the county, in case a future incident involving that utility would occur. He said the department is not normally involved in the decision-making process, however, as to whether or a utility is constructed.
"We have not been officially contacted," Alex said this week about the proposal. "(There is) not enough information with what it is going to entail and how long it's going to take to construct."
A June 18 press release from sponsors of the Commonwealth Line said project representatives are finalizing design and route selection following a "non-binding open season." An open season is a process required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a means of publicly advertising available capacity on a pipeline and soliciting bids from gas producers and other shippers for that capacity.
According to the sponsors, a pre-filing with the FERC is projected to take place this fall.
One line in county
Currently, there is only one major gas pipeline that travels through sections of Northumberland County, including the western end of Coal Township. That line transports 93 octane gasoline from Reading to Buffalo, N.Y., in a southeast to northwest direction.
The 14-inch pipeline was installed in 1964 by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and purchased in 1990 by Sunoco.
In May 2007, a bulldozer owned by Mallard Contracting Inc., Mount Carmel, punctured the line on the south side of Big Mountain in Coal Township, spilling 63,000 gallons.
In 2009, the Department of Environmental Protection and Mallard reached an agreement on the cleanup of the site. Mallard was required to complete by Jan. 31, 2011, the proper clean up of the site. Mallard also agreed to pay a $45,000 civil penalty for pollution caused by the spill as part of the agreement.