Texas Eastern to move ahead with work
WAYNESBURG – Texas Eastern Transmission is proceeding with plans to complete the work necessary to protect its pipelines above an area where the Emerald Mine plans to conduct longwall mining north of Waynesburg.
The pipeline company filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to complete pipeline mitigation work above Emerald’s D1 panel in Franklin Township as well as above Consol Energy’s Bailey Mine east mine 1L panel in Richhill Township.
FERC issued notice it is preparing an environmental assessment of the projects and is seeking public comment on possible impacts.
The remediation of the four pipelines above Emerald’s D District has been the subject of litigation between Texas Eastern and Emerald Coal Resources.
Following a two-day hearing in August, Greene County Judge William Nalitz ruled Emerald has the right to extract coal in the D District without leaving coal in place to support Texas Eastern’s pipelines.
Texas Eastern has an obligation to complete and pay for the mitigation work so as not to interfere with Emerald’s right to mine, he said.
The judge denied a motion by Texas Eastern regarding its ownership of the support estate above the pipelines. He also denied an injunction requested by Emerald to force Texas Eastern to complete the mitigation work before Emerald began mining in the district in the first quarter of 2014.
During the hearing, Emerald claimed its property deeds gave it the legal right to mine coal in the D District without interference or liability in regard to the pipelines, but that Texas Eastern had refused to commit to completing the mitigation work for mining to begin there in the first quarter of 2014.
Texas Eastern maintained it intended to complete the work, but because of a delay resulting from Emerald’s failure to confirm the date on which it planned to begin mining the D District, it would be unable to complete mitigation until September 2014.
The pipeline company also disputed Emerald’s property rights, claiming it owns the “right to support” beneath the pipelines. Texas Eastern said it would proceed with the mitigation work with the understanding if it prevailed on the issue regarding its right to support, Emerald will reimburse it for the costs of mitigation.
Texas Eastern appealed Nalitz’s decision to state Superior Court in September.
According to the FERC filing, Texas Eastern plans to excavate and elevate the four pipelines over the Emerald panel to protect them from possible subsidence during mining.
The sections of the four pipeline are each about 3,000 feet long and run east to west between Liberty Avenue and Route 19. Most of the work will be conducted in the company’s previously disturbed easements.
The company also plans to replace the pipe on three of the elevated pipelines and remove a section of a fifth pipeline that was previously idled, according to the FERC.
Texas Eastern has proposed to begin construction in April and expects to have the four pipelines excavated and elevated in about four months. It plans to re-install the pipelines below ground in April 2015, after mining is completed, and finish the project in October 2015.
The company also will excavate and elevate sections of four pipelines, each about 5,000 feet long, over the Bailey Mine panel in Richhill Township. The pipelines run east to west in an area between about Whitethorn Run and Poland Run. Most of the work also will be conducted on existing easements.
The company expects to begin work in May and have the pipeline elevated in about four months. It expects to re-install the pipeline in July 2015 and complete the project in October 2015.
FERC is soliciting comments on the possible impacts of the project related to geology, land use, water resources, fisheries, cultural resources, vegetation and wildlife, air quality and noise, endangered and threatened species and public safety.
Comments must be submitted by Dec. 2 and can be made by mail, addressed to Kimberly Bose, secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St. NE, Room 1A, Washington, D.C. 20426; or electronically through the eFiling or eComment features on the FERC website www.ferc.gov.