The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the right-of-way for a new natural gas pipeline that would traverse Elko County, NV.

Paiute Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Southwest Gas. Corp., has proposed building an eight-inch diameter natural gas pipeline that would run 35.2 miles and connect the existing Elko Lateral near Elko with the existing Ruby Pipeline.

The Elko Area Expansion Project calls for a new interconnection at Ruby Pipeline LLC’s Wieland Flat Compressor Station, two new isolation valves, and modifications to Paiute’s existing Elko City Gate (see Daily GPI, Nov. 20, 1998).

“The project would address the growing demands for natural gas, including increased residential and business load, and the greater energy needs of mining operations in the Elko area,” the BLM said Monday. “The pipeline requires a 75-foot wide temporary right-of-way during construction, and a 50-foot wide permanent right-of-way after construction is complete.”

The BLM’s field office in Tuscarora, NV, signed a decision record approving the right-of-way for the project.

FERC issued a certificate for the pipeline expansion on May 14 [CP14-509]. According to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission documents, the expansion would enable Paiute to provide 21,994 Dth/d of incremental firm transportation service to Southwest Gas Corp.-Northern Nevada and Newmont Mining Corp.

Paiute’s current natural gas transmission system runs 226 miles. It begins at an interconnection with Northwest Pipeline LLC at the Owyhee Receipt Point near the Idaho-Nevada border and runs south to Wadsworth Junction, NV. At that point Paiute’s mainline splits into the Reno and Carson Laterals, which extend to the California-Nevada border near the north and south ends of Lake Tahoe.

Paiute’s Elko Lateral begins about 100 miles downstream of Owyhee and runs east for 147 miles to the existing Elko City Gate.