Construction and operation of a proposed natural gas pipeline across four western states would have some adverse impacts which could be mitigated, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in a draft environmental impact statement on June 19.
Most of these impacts would be reduced to less-than-significant levels with the implementation of the Ruby Pipeline Project sponsors’ proposed mitigation measures, additional measures related to permits and conservation, and additional measures FERC’s staff recommends in the draft EIS, FERC said.
The project would be a system with about 675 miles of 42-inch pipeline from the Opal Hub in southwestern Wyoming across Utah and Nevada to interconnections near Malin in southern Oregon, according to the project’s sponsor, Ruby Pipeline LLC, an El Paso Corp. subsidiary. It would have an initial design capacity of up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day and include four compressor stations with capacity totaling 160,500 horsepower.
FERC said in its draft EIS that more than 30% of the pipeline would follow existing rights of way; that it would conform with federal resource management plans, once amended; that it would be designed, constructed, tested, and operated in conformance with US Department of Transportation regulations, and that Ruby Pipeline LLC would obtain all necessary federal, state, and local permits and approvals before beginning construction.
Comments will be accepted on the draft EIS through Aug. 19. Commissioners will consider a final EIS and staff’s recommendations when they make a final decision on the project, FERC said.
Contact Nick Snow at[email protected]
Photo from Equinor | Stuart Conway.
