Pipeline Among Largest in U.S.

By Michael Hooper

By Michael Hooper

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Motorists driving US-75 highway north of Topeka may have noticed a pipeline under construction south of Fairview in Brown County.

“This is the largest pipeline to be constructed in North America in the last 25 years,” said Larry Pierce, spokesman for Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, which owns 50 percent of the project. Sempra Pipelines and Storage owns 25 percent, and ConocoPhillips owns 25 percent.

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC is a $4.4 billion joint venture of the three companies.

The 42-inch pipeline will run 1,679 miles from Rio Blanco County, Colo., to Monroe County, Ohio.

The first 328-mile segment from Rio Blanco County, Colo., to Sweetwater County, Wyo., to Weld County, Colo., is in service.

Another 713 miles, running from Weld County, Colo., through northeast Kansas, to Audrain County, Mo., will be completed by Jan. 1. The entire project is scheduled to be online by 2009.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the natural-gas rich Rocky Mountain basins to markets in the Midwest.

Pierce said Kinder Morgan was overseeing construction of the project and would operate the pipeline, which when completed will have the capacity to move 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Allen Fore, spokesman for Rockies Express, said the group worked with landowners to acquire easements. Each landowner receives compensation for the 50-foot easement. Compensation was based on various factors including an appraisal of the land.

The pipe is buried a minimum of 36 inches below ground. The landowner can use the land for crops and grassland, but permanent structures and trees can’t be put on the easement, Fore said.

The western half of the project was approved for construction by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last April. The eastern half of the project is being reviewed by FERC.

He said the natural gas supplied by the pipeline was already subscribed.

Michael Hooper can be reached

at (785)295-1293

or michael.hooper@cjonline.com.

(c) 2007 Topeka Capital Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.