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EIS underway for gas pipeline between Fairbanks, Beluga gas field(Alaska Journal of Commerce (Anchorage) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 14--URS Corp. was awarded a contract to prepare an environmental impact statement for a natural gas pipeline planned by the Alaska National Gas Development Authority (ANDGA) from the Beluga gas field near Anchorage to Fairbanks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will manage the EIS, which will be paid for by ANGDA, a state of Alaska corporation. Under ANGDA's plan, the pipeline would be built as a 20-inch high-strength steel pipeline to Delta Junction. An eight-inch plastic pipeline would then carry gas on from Delta to Golden Valley Electric Association's power generation plant at North Pole. The Beluga gas field, located west of Anchorage, now supplies gas for power generation and heating in Southcentral Alaska. The pipeline would operate initially to ship gas north to Fairbanks and then be reversed to carry gas south if and when a large-diameter gas pipeline is built from the North Slope, according to Harold Heinze, ANDGA's executive director. ANDGA's plan is in response to a request from Gov. Sarah Palin earlier this year that the state authority develop a plan to get gas to Fairbanks before a large-diameter pipeline is built, which would be in 2018 at the earliest. Under ANDGA's plan, prior to the completion of the main pipeline, a small volume of Cook Inlet gas will flow north. Upon completion of the main pipeline, the flow will be reversed, Heinze said. In the longer term, ANGDA expects that feeder lines and take-off points would be built as the system grows to meet Alaska's needs, he said. Approximately 90 percent of the proposed 480-mile pipeline is in existing rights-of-way and easements. ANGDA has already done a lot of work on the spur line, including securing a conditional right-of-way from Glennallen to Palmer on a route near the Glenn Highway. From Delta to Glennallen, the spur line would be built in the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System corridor, and from Fairbanks to Delta there are several existing rights-of-way, including the TAPS pipeline. Near Palmer the spur line would tap into an existing gas pipeline system owner by Enstar Natural Gas Co. It is the last major permitting process on the Beluga to Fairbanks pipeline, Heinze said. The EIS is the fundamental component required to permit and construct the pipeline system from Beluga to Fairbanks. Work on the document will begin in January and is planned to conclude with publication of the draft EIS in fall 2010. After a public review process, the Corps of Engineers will publish a final EIS. URS is one of the largest engineering and environmental consulting firms in Alaska. The company specializes in performing and managing large National Environmental Policy Act compliance contracts for projects such as gas pipelines, highways, power transmission lines and railroads. URS staff has worked on most of the major trans-Alaska oil and gas pipeline NEPA compliance efforts over the last 35 years. The company has 3,500 employees in their Pacific Northwest Division, and more than 55,000 staff worldwide. Tim Bradner can be reached at [email protected]">[email protected]. To see more of the Alaska Journal of Commerce, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.alaskajournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |