Hoping to solidify the project’s shaky environmental status,Independence Pipeline Co., working with the Ohio Power Siting Board(OPSB), voluntarily agreed to a set of standards last week intendedto protect Ohio’s environment from the construction and operationof the pipeline. The agreement, which was signed by the OPSB inearly June, has been forwarded to the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission (FERC) for consideration.

There are 31 conditions in the joint agreement, which augmentsother procedures included in FERC’s Plan and Procedures andIndependence’s Best Management Practices plan.

“I don’t think any other project has gone to this length,” saidJoe Martucci, an ANR Pipeline spokesman, which is a partner in the$678 million, 400-mileproject along with Transco and NationalFuel Gas Co. “This is a detailed, legal document outliningspecific measures we have agreed to perform.”

For Independence, the OPSB agreement is significant because FERCstill has not issued preliminary determinations (PDs) on the fourmajor proposed pipeline projects intended to transport gas from theMidwest to the Northeast (the other three being Millennium, SupplyLinkand MarketLink). FERC withheld issuing PDs for any of the projectslast March (See Daily GPI, March 11),citing enormous landowner opposition, environmental concerns andpotential lack of demand. FERC is aiming for action to resume by thisfall.

Independence itself has received more than 6,000 landownercomplaints. Although it won a positive draft environmental impactstatement from FERC in April (See Daily GPI, April 20), this agreement demonstrates thatIndependence supporters are still working to combat the landowneropposition.

“It is a direct effort on Independence’s part to step up andease the concerns people have,” Martucci said.

One of the most rigorous conditions of the OPSB agreementrequires Independence to enter into an extensive construction andagricultural mitigation agreement with the Ohio Federation of Soiland Water Conservation districts. The mitigation agreement callsfor the implementation of a series of specific constructionmeasures and precautions on privately-owned agricultural landduring pipeline construction , cleanup and restoration activities.

The mitigation agreement also stipulates that Independence mustretain qualified agricultural consultants and inspectors on eachwork phase of the project, including initial construction plandevelopment, actual construction, initial restoration,post-construction monitoring and follow-up restoration.

“The prescribed state-of-the-art construction standards andpolicies outlined in the construction and agricultural mitigationagreement underscore our respect for the agricultural industry inthe state of Ohio. They also recognize the importance of designingand building a pipeline that will add a critical link to thenation’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure to serve current andfuture energy needs,” Independence and the OPSB said.

If approved, Independence would transport up to 1 Bcf/d of gasfrom Defiance, OH, to the hub in Leidy, PA.

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.