Source: Zanesville Times Recorder
ZANESVILLE — A few months after one pipeline through Muskingum County was completed, another pipeline project was suspended indefinitely.
The Bluegrass pipeline, which would transport natural gas liquids from shale-producing areas in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to the northeastern U.S., was postponed by a year in March, said Sara Delgado, spokeswoman for Williams, one of the companies behind the project.
Then on Monday, a news release was posted on the project’s website — bluegrasspipeline.com — by the companies behind the project, Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, stating the project was indefinitely suspended. No new capital will be invested into the project at this time.
Delgado said the suspension took place because the customers for the project — the shale-producing areas in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania — did not commit to the project at this time.
“We still think it’s a very good project,” she said.
The pipeline was slated to pass through Fairfield County.
According to a question and answer page posted on the project’s website, hosted by Bill Lawson and Michael McMahon, representatives of Williams and Boardwalk, the Bluegrass pipeline project is not dead.
“While we are not investing additional capital in this project at this time, we continue to seek customers for this project and still believe the Bluegrass Pipeline project is the best long-term solution in the marketplace for moving this resource to market,” the website states.
The companies behind the project will continue seeking customer support, though the project will not receive any new capital, the website states.
“We continue to believe the Bluegrass Pipeline project is the best long-term solution in the marketplace, it has not received the necessary customer commitments to move forward,” the website states. “Williams and Boardwalk will continue to have discussions with potential customers to determine their needs, the needs of the market and our project.”
Residents who opposed the project did not influence the decision for suspension, the website states.
“Without firm agreements from customers, we could not justify continuing to spend capital on this project,” the website states. “If our discussions with customers lead to agreements to ship on the pipeline and it makes economic sense to pursue the project at a later date, we will.”
The company had already awarded 24 grants to organizations within counties scheduled to be affected by the Bluegrass pipeline route across the country.
Seven organizations in Ohio received $42,000 in grant funds recently. Some of the funds are slated to go toward replacing the Zane’s Landing Park’s amphitheater. The grants are still going to be honored by the company.
Work on the ATEX pipeline, another project running through Fairfield County, was finished Jan. 1 this year, said Ricky Rainey, spokesman for Enterprise Products Partners LP.
The ATEX pipeline carries ethane from shale-producing regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the U.S. Gulf Coast.