Pipeline targets Bainbridge site

Thursday, June 15, 2006

By LISA MEYER TRIGG

Editor

A natural gas compressor facility for a cross-country pipeline has been proposed for a site outside of Bainbridge, with construction scheduled to begin in March 2008.

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC has already contacted property owners along its proposed route, and the company plans to conduct open house meetings to inform the public about the project.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from production areas in the Rocky Mountain region to the upper Midwest and eastern United States across an estimated 1,663 miles. The eastern project, which runs from Audrain County, Mo., to Monroe County, Ohio, and includes Putnam County, will cover 622 miles with a 42-inch diameter, underground steel pipeline system carrying between 1.5 billion and 2.0 billion cubic feet of gas per day from supply-rich areas of Colorado and Wyoming to natural gas markets in the Midwest and east. According to the company's website, much of the proposed pipeline parallels existing pipeline and utility corridors.

The natural gas will be repressurized at compressor stations along the pipeline route, and the preliminary design includes a station west of Bainbridge.

Construction of the western portion of the pipeline from Colorado to Missouri is scheduled to begin in late spring 2007 with a targeted in-service date of December 2007. Construction of the eastern portion is to begin in March 2008 with a targeted in-service date of December 2008.

Public meetings on the project are set for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 27 at Clark's Meeting Hall in Rockville, from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 28 at the Carlton Lodge in Franklin, and from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 29 at the Hampton Inn in Plainfield.

One benefit to the project will be the access local communities along the pipeline route will have to the natural gas supplies.

Bill Dory of the Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center said the towns of Roachdale and Bainbridge already purchase their gas to sell to local customers. The new pipeline could make the purchase of gas more competitive and give the consumers a better price.

The company website for Rockies Express Pipeline, located at www.rexpipeline.com, states that the system is a significant investment in the U.S. energy infrastructure and will help meet the nation's need for energy. There is a growing demand for safe, clean-burning natural gas in the U.S. Additional pipeline capacity will be needed to deliver natural gas to end users.

Rockies Express is being developed as a joint development of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Sempra Pipelines and Storage, a unit of Sempra Energy.

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