The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a staff-level draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on a proposed 122.2-mile gas pipeline in Tennessee, opening the public comment period.
Enbridge Inc’s Ridgeline Expansion Project would build a 30-inch-diameter pipeline and associated facilities across the counties of Trousdale, Smith, Jackson, Putnam, Overton, Fentress, Morgan and Roane, the FERC said in a statement. The project expands Enbridge’s existing East Tennessee Natural Gas pipeline system. The existing system and the proposed project are under East Tennessee Natural Gas LLC (ETNG).
“For most resources, the construction and operation of the Project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts”, said the statement on the FERC website. “Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term during construction, but some long-term and permanent environmental impacts would occur on some forested lands, including forested wetlands”.
“We conclude that impacts would be less than significant with implementation of East Tennessee’s proposed avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures as well as the environmental conditions we recommend the Commission include in any Project authorization it may issue to East Tennessee”, the statement added.
The staff’s comments will be taken into consideration when FEFC commissioners decide on the project.
The Ridgeline Expansion Project aims to add a daily transport capacity of 300,000 dekatherms of firm natural gas and up to 95,000 dekatherms of customized delivery service from multiple providers to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant, according to the FERC.
Enbridge says on its website, “Replacing coal-fired generation at the Kingston Fossil Plant with natural gas would provide Tennesseans with a lower-carbon, cleaner-burning energy source as we transition toward the future”.
The mainline would measure 118.2 miles, according to the FERC. Associated facilities would include a 14,600-horsepower, electric-driven compressor and an associated solar array in Trousdale to provide some of the needed power; a meter and regulating station to receive gas from Columbia Gulf Transmission LLC in Trousdale; and a delivery meter station to measure gas delivered to the Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane. Two existing meter and regulating stations would also be modified to receive gas from Texas Eastern Transmission LP and Midwestern Gas Transmission Co. in Trousdale.
ETNG is also proposing to remove about 24 miles of pipe segments along its existing 22-inch-diameter Line 3100-1. ETNG wants to relay the 30-inch-diameter mainline of the proposed pipeline to the same trench, the FERC said.
The public has until July 15 to submit comments.
Calgary, Canada-based Enbridge plans to start construction next year. It expects to put the Ridgeline Expansion Project onstream in the fall of 2026.
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