Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 14 -- The Rockies Express East natural gas pipeline moved one step closer to final federal approval as the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a final environmental impact statement on the project.
The proposed 639-mile pipeline from Missouri to Ohio would have "mostly limited" environmental impacts with appropriate mitigating measures, FERC concluded in the final EIS released Apr. 11.
The evaluation covered Rockies Express Pipeline LLC's proposed eastern portion of a planned $4.4 billion, 1,679-mile system, which would transport as much as 1.8 bcfd of gas from Rio Blanco County, Colo., to the US Midwest. FERC issued a draft EIS for the project on Nov. 23, 2007.
Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, with targeted partial service of the pipeline, meter stations, and most compressor stations by December, and full service expected by June 2009, Rockies Express said. The company is a joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, Sempra Energy subsidiary Sempra Pipelines & Storage, and ConocoPhillips.
FERC said that commissioners will consider the final EIS and other staff recommendations when they make a final decision on the REX East project.
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