Citing a need to meet future growth in the region, NW Natural, agas utility serving 477,000 customers in Washington, announcedplans to build a 52-mile, 24-inch pipeline from its existingfacilities near North Plains, WA, to the Williams Gas Pipeline inMolalla, WA. The company said yesterday it has filed a Notice ofIntent with the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC), a divisionof the Oregon Department of Energy. The total cost for theexpansion, which NW Natural said would be complete by 2004, is $58million.

The pipeline project, called Phase IV and V of the South MistFeeder project, will complete NW Natural’s gas transmissionpipeline between the Mist Gas Storage Field in Columbia County andNW Natural’s Molalla gate station on Williams Pipeline Co.’stransmission line. Completion will allow gas withdrawn from theunderground storage in Mist to supply customers in the rapidlygrowing areas near Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Newberg, Sherwood,Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Donald, Aurora and Canby, thecompany said.

Phase IV (the northern two-thirds of the corridor) is 32-mileslong and is scheduled to be operational by Nov. 1, 2002. Phase V(the southern third) is 20 miles long and is scheduled to beoperational by Nov. 1, 2004. Both phases will be addressed in asingle EFSC Site Certificate Application to be filed next summer.

“This new pipeline project is vital to our company’s ability tomeet the future growth of this region,” said Charlie Stinson,general manager of engineering and storage development for NWNatural. “We have identified this project as the least-cost meansof providing reliable supplies of natural gas to the growing areassouthwest and south of Portland.”

The filing begins a two-and one-half-year process that willbegin with studies of the proposed pipeline route and incorporatepublic input. The Oregon Department of Energy is mailing notices to6,500 property owners of NW Natural’s intent to study fouralternative pipeline corridors.

NW Natural said it will present its preliminary study to an EFSChearing on Oct. 29, with the location and time to be announced.Public meetings will be held Nov. 8, 9 and 10 in communities nearthe project. The locations and times will be announced.

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