The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given an environmental nod to Chestnut Ridge Storage LLC’s proposal to convert a depleted natural gas field in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia into a high-deliverability, multi-cycle storage facility.

“Approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded in its environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed Junction Natural Gas Storage Facility near Uniontown, PA [CP08-36].

The storage project is expected to have up to 25 Bcf of working capacity and up to 500,000 Dth/d of injection and withdrawal capacity, according to Omaha, NE-based Chestnut Ridge Storage, which is owned by affiliates of Tenaska Power Fund of Omaha and eCorp LLC of Houston.

The field, known as the West Summit Gas Field, is in Fayette County, PA, and Monongalia and Preston counties, WV. The storage field would be linked to Columbia Gas Transmission, Dominion Transmission Inc. and Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) interstate pipeline systems

The proposed facilities would provide service to shippers on the several pipeline projects that would move Rocky Mountain gas to eastern markets, and would provide access to producers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions as well, Chestnut Ridge said. In addition, the storage project would support the expected growth in gas demand by generators in the Northeast, the company noted.

Chestnut Ridge, which filed its application at FERC in late 2007, proposes to drill 14 injection/withdrawal wells; convert 11 existing production wells to either injection/withdrawal or observation wells; install a 25,000 hp compression station, as well as 14 miles of gathering laterals; a 24-inch diameter pipeline header connecting to Columbia Gas; a 21-mile, 24-inch diameter pipeline header connecting to Dominion Transmission and Tetco; and a 1.5-mile, 139-kV radial transmission line to connect to the Junction Compressor Station (see Daily GPI, Dec. 18, 2007).

A September 2007 nonbinding open season resulted in expressions of interest of more than three times the project’s potential for up to 25 Bcf of firm storage capacity, according to Chestnut Ridge Storage (see Daily GPI, Sept. 18, 2007).

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