Columbia Gas Transmission LLC secured a positive environmental review from the National Park Service in the application process for a permit that would let the company build the Eastern Panhandle natural gas pipeline expansion under the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park near Hancock, Md.
On Sept. 23, the National Park Service signed a finding of no significant impact in response to a right of way permit request from the TC Energy Corp. pipeline company. The right of way permit would allow Columbia Gas to install 553 feet of 8-inch-diameter pipeline under the park, horizontally drilled at between 116 feet and 148 feet below the ground surface, according to a Sept. 26 news release from the federal agency.
The National Park Service said it would issue the permit once Columbia Gas completes an appraisal of the property that is approved by the U.S. Interior Department's Appraisal and Valuation Services Office.
The crossing of the C&O Canal is an important part of the Eastern Panhandle project. The entire project would deliver 47,500 Dth/d of gas through less than 4 miles of 8-inch-diameter line running from the Columbia Gas system in Fulton County, Pa., to a delivery point for utility Mountaineer Gas Co. in Morgan County, W.Va. The line would also cross the Potomac River from Maryland into West Virginia. Columbia Gas applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the project in March 2017, and FERC approved it in July 2018. The National Park Service served as a cooperating agency. (FERC docket CP17-80)
On Sept. 20, Columbia Gas appealed an unfavorable federal district court ruling that denied the pipeline company's effort to compel Maryland to grant easements for other sections of the project outside of the national park.
