ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Hits Potential Snag in Ohio

| | | | | | |

Enterprise Products Partners recently announced a 1,230 mile ethane pipeline from Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story). Dubbed the ATEX Express (Appalachia to Texas), the proposed pipeline includes building 353 miles of new pipeline through Ohio. But the Ohio stretch of construction has hit a potential snag.

Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) officials say Enterprise must get their approval before building it, but Enterprise disputes the OPSB has the authority to oversee construction the ATEX Express in the state. The dispute hinges on whether the natural gas liquid ethane that will flow through the pipeline is a liquid or a gas. Ethane under pressure is a liquid, but when it hits the air, it turns into a gas.

Federal law grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the power to regulate natural gas pipelines, but not liquid pipelines—at least during the construction phase. After construction is complete, FERC regulates interstate liquid pipelines too. FERC maintains ethane pipelines are liquid pipelines, so they won’t get involved during construction of the ATEX Express.

But the [Ohio] Power Siting Board says that ethane is a liquid only when it’s under pressure. It turns into a gas in the atmosphere…That would mean the board could regulate these lines before they’re built.

The state requires that pipeline builders detail the routes they’d take, in part so that officials can examine and minimize damage to streams, wetlands and natural areas.

A review of a 240-mile pipeline that another Houston-based company, Kinder Morgan, proposed building in [November 2010] shows that line would have crossed 334 streams, including scenic sections of the Kokosing, Maumee and Sandusky rivers.

It would have passed near the Oak Openings Preserve metro park near Toledo, home of the endangered Karner blue butterfly and 180 rare plant species.

Allen Fore, a Kinder Morgan spokesman, said the company decided not to build the line, which would have moved natural-gas liquids from Pennsylvania to refineries in Ontario, Canada.

Fore said Kinder Morgan also questioned the state’s authority but decided not to dispute it.*

Actually, the OPSB rejected the Kinder Morgan proposal last year and Kinder decided not to fight it. There is no word from Enterprise on whether or not they will officially challenge the OPSB’s claim to oversee ATEX Express construction plans.

*The Columbus Dispatch (Feb 26, 2012) – Pipeline jurisdiction at issue

3 Comments

  1. Excellent. Greene County is being systematically deforested by pipeline construction, with little oversight by PADEP, since were out of sight of Harrisburg and out of mind. Soil erosion? Stream damage? Not a problem to Mr. Krancer, apparently. And, after a century of coal mining, also badly regulated, we’ve borne more than our fair share of the deleterious side effects of energy production, with very few of the advertised benefits. 

  2.  Because idiots like you can’t see two feet in front of your face.OPEC is raping you and your OK with it, that’s why. Your barking up the wrong tree. Gas will be $5.00 a gallon by this  summer, that’s when you’ll start turning your attention and say ” We want OUR NG to stay here.All your bitching is not going to stop the economic machine. When the cry is ” I cant afford to go to work anymore, what is my government doing something to alleviate it”? They are selling the North Dakota Bakken oil overseas ( China), they are selling the LNG overseas ( China),Our President vetoed  a pipeline that would bring cheap oil from Canada , Alaska, and the Bakken here. The NG companies are in business to make money, and if we wont buy NG or Oil here, they will sell it overseas. So stop crying and start placing your energy into how you can HELP, this Country succeed. Your not going to stop progress in getting these Cheaper fossil fuels, your just hurting yourself in the end by not reaping the reward by  buying  this cheaper fuel and getting off the OPEC nipple. We are pawns in the stock market and the unrest in the Middle East is going to wreak havoc on your wallet.Here is the answer, lets pull “All “our troops out of the Middle East, tell OPEC and Chavez we wont be buying any Oil from them anymore, and lets get going on us supplying our own fuel. Its that simple.

  3. You’re wrong again. Our project has started some brushing operations in Greene County and the DEP is very involved and has been onsite several times. Once again you sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher “wonk, wonk, wonk”!!!