Mon Pipeline Work DelayedWashington PA

Observer Reporter
31 December 2011
By Scott Beveridge, Staff writer
sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com

WEBSTER - High water has again delayed construction of a major Marcellus Shale natural gas pipeline under the Monongahela River.

Crews were prepared to dig an underwater trench between Carroll and Rostraver townships, but rain has prevented them from entering the Mon, said Daniel Donovan, spokesman for the Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources.

"Everything is staged," Donovan said Friday.

The project is part of the 110-mile Appalachian Gateway pipeline the company is building in response to "a gas gold rush" in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the company has said.

Typically the company would bore a hole under the river for such pipes, but the high terrain on the Rostraver side of the river required it to dig a trench.

"From what I understand, this is a very rare procedure," said John Poister, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP doesn't often issue such permits, Poister said.

"This is not something that is done casually," he said.

The work had first been delayed from Nov. 11 to Dec. 31 because of high water.

Some navigation delays are expected when the work begins, once the river recedes. It should take about a week to bury the concrete-lined pipe in the river, Donovan said.