|
2000 News Releases
Date: July 20, 2000
Gulfstream
Natural Gas System Signs Cornerstone Agreements
With Port Manatee for Significant Florida Base
HOUSTON – The Coastal
Corporation announced today that its Gulfstream Natural Gas
System, L.L.C., affiliate and the Manatee County Port Authority
have signed multimillion dollar agreements for both a permanent
right-of-way easement to cross through Port Manatee for a
portion of Gulfstream’s proposed 744-mile natural gas
pipeline, as well as the use of port services and acreage. Under
the terms of the agreements, Gulfstream will make an initial
payment totaling $1.48 million. The agreements represent the
first major acquisition of permanent right of way for the
Gulfstream project and provide a landfall to Florida that has
minimal impact to Florida’s coastline and environment, while
avoiding disruption to sea grass or mangroves in the region.
As part of these agreements,
Gulfstream will lease up to 190 acres of vacant land at Port
Manatee. The leased property will serve as a logistics base
during Gulfstream’s construction phase. The base will be used
as a staging area where the large-diameter steel pipe – being
provided by Berg Steel of Panama City, Fla. – will be coated
with concrete and stored before its placement offshore.
Gulfstream and the Port Authority
also are working toward a collaborative agreement for an overall
restoration and long-term maintenance plan for an existing,
uninhabited man-made island near the entrance to the Port.
"These historic agreements
with the Port Authority for permanent right-of-way easements,
leased land and port services mark the continuation of our
longstanding business relationship between Port Manatee and
Coastal for providing fuel to the central Florida region,"
said David A. Arledge, chairman and chief executive officer of
The Coastal Corporation. "With their progressive
involvement in support of the Gulfstream project, the Manatee
County Port Authority will play an important role in bringing
additional clean-burning natural gas supplies to Florida to meet
the state’s growing power generation needs."
When complete, Gulfstream will
have the capacity to deliver up to 1.1 billion cubic feet of
natural gas per day from Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico to
Florida’s East Coast.
In Manatee County, the Gulfstream
project is expected to have an economic impact during
construction of more than $60 million, according to a study by
Orlando-based financial consultant Fishkind & Associates.
The study also estimates that Gulfstream will have an overall
economic benefit to Florida of more than $1.2 billion over a
21-year period.
More information about the
Gulfstream Natural Gas System is available by calling
1-888-GAS-4-FLA (1-888-427-4352).
|
