|
1999 News Releases
Date: April 21, 1999
Gulfstream
Natural Gas System Identifies Study Corridor in Florida: Seeks
Public Input
HOUSTON -- The
Coastal Corporation today announced that public input will be
sought on a three-mile-wide study corridor for siting the
proposed Gulfstream Natural Gas System, which is designed to
deliver environmentally preferred energy to meet the increasing
demand for electricity in central and eastern Florida.
David A. Arledge, chairman and
chief executive officer, The Coastal Corporation, said: "Gulfstream
is a top priority effort for our Company. We are doing all we
can to ensure that its development proceeds in an
environmentally responsible manner."
The study corridor for the
pipeline begins in the vicinity of Piney Point in Manatee County
and crosses the Florida Peninsula in an easterly direction
through portions of Hardee, Polk, Highlands and Okeechobee
counties, before ending near Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County.
The solicitation of early public
comment is one of the steps being taken to develop the best
possible route for Gulfstream.
The three-mile-wide study
corridor reflects efforts to avoid sensitive environmental
features, habitats, wetlands, parks, protected areas and public
lands, and to minimize effects on developed areas.
At the same time, existing
utility or road corridors will be shared wherever practical,
thus minimizing potential environmental impact.
Gulfstream representatives have
been meeting with a variety of environmental agencies and groups
and will continue to seek and incorporate their suggestions as
the project moves forward.
Further details on the study
corridor will be available at Gulfstream's upcoming open houses,
which are intended to provide informal, local forums to answer
questions and obtain recommendations from landowners, local
officials and other interested parties on the overall project
and the study corridor.
Experts representing various
disciplines involved in Gulfstream, including environmental,
construction, engineering, land and safety, will participate in
the open houses.
Specific locations and dates will
be announced once the schedule is finalized.
Following the open houses and
other local meetings, Gulfstream's proposed route will be
adjusted and refined to reflect local concerns prior to filing
the pipeline's formal application with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) later this year.
"By making our proposed
corridor known months before we file our pipeline certificate
application, we are engaging in a voluntary collaborative
process with the public, FERC staff and various agencies,"
said Jeffrey A. Connelly, senior vice president, natural gas, of
The Coastal Corporation and president of ANR Pipeline Company, a
subsidiary of Coastal and sponsor of the pipeline.
"This approach is in keeping
with the spirit of FERC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, issued
last fall, which is intended to improve communication, expand
public participation and identify any concerns very early in the
process," he added.
On March 1, 1999, Coastal
announced that there was sufficient market support from
nonaffiliated customers to proceed with the development of
Gulfstream.
A subsequent open season, held
from March 15, 1999, through March 29, 1999, attracted interest
from additional potential customers.
Designed to help meet Florida's
projected need to provide clean energy to service at least 9,600
megawatts of additional electric generating capacity by 2007,
the Gulfstream Natural Gas System, L.L.C. has a targeted
in-service date of June 2002.
It will consist of approximately
700 miles of pipeline and related facilities, originating near
Mobile, Ala., and crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a southeasterly
direction before making landfall in Florida.
Approximately 60 percent of the
route will be constructed offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
|
