The proposed route and two alternative routes for Spectra Energy Corp.’s proposed Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) natural gas pipeline bisect a “very complicated” 66-acre property in Bayonne, NJ, owned by Texaco Downstream Properties Inc. (TDP) and should be realigned, the Chevron affiliate said in a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filing.

The site, which was previously a lubricant blending facility and light products terminal, “is well along in the approval process” to be redeveloped into a residential development, according to TDP. Over the next two years the area is scheduled to undergo remediation, which could include extensive excavation to address benzene and other contaminants.

“The proposed pipeline routes run right through the heaviest areas of contamination,” TDP wrote in its filing. “This contamination poses problems for both parties: it would adversely affect the pipeline installation if the pipeline preceded the cleanup and it would make our cleanup much more difficult as we would have to work around a high-pressure gas line…the proposed routes would adversely affect the approved redevelopment plan and have a negative impact to the City of Bayonne with respect to jobs, property taxes and homes.”

Chevron requested that the pipeline route be realigned, “preferably off the property, but at a minimum to an area on the property that does not interfere with the ongoing remediation, the unique physical characteristics of the property or the planned redevelopment of the site.”

Chevron and Spectra both say they are working together to try to resolve the issue. “We have had several meetings with Chevron’s representatives and we continue to meet with them to develop a route that addresses both parties’ needs,” a Spectra spokesman told NGI.

The project calls for Tetco to build a 16-mile, 30-inch diameter extension from Tetco’s pipeline in Staten Island, NY, through Bayonne and Jersey City in New Jersey to a Consolidated Edison plant in Manhattan, as well as expand Spectra’s Algonquin Gas Transmission system (see Daily GPI, Dec. 29, 2009). The proposed facilities would be capable of transporting up to 800 MMcf/d of Marcellus Shale gas to the region and are targeted for service in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Following a deadly explosion at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Connecticut in February, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) raised concerns about the proposed Tetco expansion, which he said should not be permitted near New Jersey’s chemical plants, Newark Liberty Airport “and the area that terrorism experts call the most dangerous two miles in America” (see Daily GPI, Feb. 10).

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