Dominion said Wednesday it has optioned land in Natrium, WV, to construct a natural gas processing and fractionation facility that would support wet natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale.

Dominion optioned land at chemical producer PPG Industries’ 56-acre site in Natrium. Engineering design and project planning for the Dominion plant are under way; financial terms were not disclosed.

Gas pipeline and storage subsidiary Dominion Transmission launched plans last year to process gas and separate natural gas liquids (NGL) as part of its Marcellus 404 Project (see Daily GPI, April 21, 2010).

“Further development of the Marcellus Shale demands additional processing and fractionation capacity,” said Dominion Transmission’s Paul Ruppert, senior vice president. “PPG’s Natrium site is strategically located close to our existing facilities, near high-Btu natural gas development, and it allows for transport of the fractionated liquids by numerous options. The project will help further develop West Virginia‘s north-central region.”

The Natrium site is in the north-central part of the state on the Ohio River near New Martinsville, and is close to Dominion’s TL-404 pipeline, an existing transmission line in Ohio and West Virginia that Dominion plans to convert into a wet gas service line.

The proposed facility would phase in service to process up to 300 MMcf/d. Fractionation capacity for up to 38,000 b/d of NGLs would be available.

PPG’s Natrium plant produces chlorine, calcium hypochlorite, muriatic acid and caustic soda. The plant, in operation since 1943, employs about 530 people.