Pipeline gets permission to begin full service on second mainline.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday gave Rover Pipeline permission to begin full service on the second of its two 42-inch diameter mainlines.
The second mainline had been in partial service since April 25.
Texas-based Energy Transfer started building the $4.2 billion Rover Pipeline last year. The project is designed to carry 3.25 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from the Utica and Marcellus shales to markets in Canada and the United States.
The two mainlines cross Stark, Carroll, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties.
In granting Rover’s in-service request, FERC noted that final restoration work on a supply connector and the second mainline was 90 percent finished. Rover estimated restoration would be complete by July 24.
The first mainline began service last year, but construction of the second mainline was delayed by leaks of drilling fluid during boring beneath the Tuscarawas River in Bethlehem Township.
In April 2017, 2 million gallons of drilling mud leaked into a wetland next to the river, prompting FERC to temporarily stop construction. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency found the drilling mud was tainted by diesel fuel.
Ohio EPA sued Rover over the leak and other alleged environmental violations in Stark County Common Pleas Court. The case is pending.
Reach Shane at 330-580-8338 or shane.hoover@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @shooverREP