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Leach XPress Pipeline Begins Drilling Under the Ohio River

Leach XPress Map Showing BM-111 Loop – click for larger version

In August 2014, MDN told you that Columbia Pipeline Group decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects: the Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). Leach Xpress will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. In January 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the two projects (see FERC Approves $1.8B Leach & Rayne XPress Pipeline Projects). Construction has since begun. Part of the Leach XPress project is a sub-project called the BM-111 Loop, three-mile segment of 36-inch diameter pipe, extending from Columbia’s existing Burlington, OH (Lawrence County) meter station. That segment will go under the Ohio River. Work on the BM-111 Loop, which will employ 140 people during construction, has just begun…
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9 Years Later Fracking Set to Begin in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest

Wayne National Forest (WNF) is the only national forest in Ohio and portions of it are found in Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Lawrence, Perry, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington counties. WNF is a “patchwork” of public land scattered among private land. Some 60% of the mineral rights below WNF are privately owned. Back in 2012 MDN told you that the U.S Forest Service, after holding up drilling in WNF since 2006, had cleared the way to allow fracking to begin (see Fracking Coming to Wayne National Forest in SE OH). Then any potential fracking came to a screeching halt because it was delayed by yet another federal agency–the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Since 2012 the BLM has moved like a snail, but finally (finally!) the BLM has scheduled public scoping hearings for Nov. 17, 18 and 19. Things are moving once again. Once the hearings are done, there will no reason not to move forward with plans to drill (and frack!) in the WNF…
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New (Utica?) Oil Terminal Operation Coming to Lawrence County, OH

Ergon, a privately-held company headquartered in Mississippi, owns an oil refinery in Newell, West Virginia (since 1997). Earlier this month Ergon reported purchasing a petroleum storage facility/terminal located in Ironton, Ohio. The stated purpose is to increase their capacity to purchase and transport crude oil in the Ohio River Valley region. What is that news?…
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