PA Pipeline Allowed to Withdraw Public Utility Application

Laser Northeast Gathering is a 30-mile, $55 million pipeline being built from Susquehanna County, PA to across the border in Broome County, NY. When complete, the pipeline will connect wells in Susquehanna County with the Millennium Pipeline which runs through Broome County. As MDN previously reported, Laser  Northeast had filed for public utility status and then eventually withdrew that application when the need for eminent domain was no longer necessary.

The final chapter in that story is now written. The PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Thursday voted to officially allow Laser Northeast to withdraw the application they had once submitted.

The state Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved a natural gas pipeline company’s withdrawal of an application seeking public utility status.

The PUC voted 3-2 to allow Laser Northeast Gathering Co. to pull the application, which would have subjected it to safety standards, but would have made it easier to take private property by eminent domain.

The company, which is headed by Waverly Twp. resident Thomas Karam, is building a $55 million pipeline to transport Marcellus Shale natural gas from Susquehanna County to Broome County, N.Y.*

*Wilkes-Barre The Citizens’ Voice (Nov 11, 2011) – Laser Northeast public utility application withdrawn