As California struggles to recover from its energy crisis, consumers nationwide are glancing nervously at their own heating bills and wondering if there is any respite in sight. With harsh winter conditions throughout the Northeast, residents are feeling the sting of higher gas bills.
CNN reported that natural gas consumption is up 14 percent, and the request for assistance in paying heating bills has risen 25 percent.
Overall, the U.S. Northeast leads the list of regions where natural gas pipeline capacity constraints and bottlenecks could crop up. The Northeast boasts North America’s highest utilization rate (77 percent), compared to an average usage rate of 66 percent for all pipelines in 1999. Fortunately for consumers in the Northeast, help might soon be on the way with a $600-million pipeline project.
The Millennium Pipeline, a joint partnership between Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, TransCanada PipeLines Limited and Westcoast Energy Inc., is expected to carry at least 650 million cu. ft. a day of natural gas to New York and other eastern markets.
The planned route stretches from Dawn, Ontario, to Westchester County near Mt. Vernon, NY, predominantly following existing utility easements, but breaking new ground by spanning Lake Erie. According to Karl Brack, communications manager, Columbia, the company’s Canadian partners retain responsibility for the pipeline north of the border. Columbia officially picks up operations at the international border in Lake Erie.
According to Millennium Chairman David Pentzien, the pipeline could be delivering natural gas to the New York City area at prices 30 percent lower than other available options, reducing the region’s energy bill by $105 million during the month of January alone.
“Based on price forecasts for January, the Millennium Pipeline could be delivering natural gas for significantly less than the record-high prices New Yorkers will be paying this winter,” he said.
Brack acknowledged that Columbia’s is not the only pipeline servicing the Northeast, but quotes an analysis that indicates the Millennium project could save consumers $150 million this winter versus standard pipeline supply.
Awaiting Approval
Eighty percent of the project involves upgrading and replacing older pipeline laid in the 1940s and 50s. But Millennium will extend service as well as increase capacity. Brack said that the current pipeline doesn’t reach as far in New York as the Millennium proposes, and doesn’t connect to the underground storage hub in Canada that collects fuel from as far away as the Rocky Mountains, the Southwest, the Midwest and northern Canada.
Brack added that the delay in approval stems from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s cautious review of proposed new infrastructure. “We have to show a market demand to offset the cost,” he explained. “The Commission has to justify investments — spend energy dollars wisely — and make sure the project is environmentally sound. In other words, we’ve had to prove there is a real need for the Millennium.”
Columbia expects to receive certification this year, and has tentatively scheduled an in-service date of Nov. 1, 2002 for the pipeline, which represents a one-year postponement of Millennium’s original plan.
Blueprint for Work
Once approval is secured, crews will flag the limits of the construction right-of-way and clear it of vegetation before grading. Next, the trenching crew will dig the trench for the new pipeline. In cultivated areas, topsoil is separated from the other dirt so it can be placed back on top of the disturbed soil after construction.
Sections of the pipe, 40-ft. (12 m) in length, will be strung along the trench. Across the length of the project, the pipeline will be bent to fit the contour of the trench. The bends are placed in the steel by two methods. The first, a factory bend, is a manufactured bend that is welded into the pipeline during construction. This is done for areas where there will be significant turns along the pipeline route. Factory bends can be made up to 90 degrees.
The second bend, a field bend, is made on site to make small modifications in the pipe so it will closely follow the contour of the trench. This is accomplished by a special bending machine. On the 36-in. (91 cm) portion of the Millennium Pipeline, up to a 14-degree bend per 40-ft. (12 m) joint of pipe can be performed on a pipeline in the field. On the 24-in. (61 cm) portion of the Millennium Pipeline, up to a 21-degree bend per 40-ft. (12 m) joint of pipe can be performed on a pipeline in the field.
Once the pipeline is welded and inspected, crews will backfill the trench, making sure they don’t damage the pipe coating. The pipe to be used in this project is 36- and 24-in.- (91 and 61 cm) diameter, mill-coated steel in 60-ft. (18 m) segments. The line will have a maximum allowable operating pressure of from 1,000 to 1,440 lbs. per square inch.
Existing Pipeline
Plans for Columbia’s existing pipeline system in New York (the A-5 pipeline) depend on location. For instance, in Delaware, Sullivan, Orange and Rockland counties, the A-5 line will be shut down and taken out of the ground as they build the new Millennium line in what they call a “lift and lay” operation. In other areas, parts of the A-5 system will remain in service during construction of the new line so that local customers and communities will retain service. Once Millennium is complete, however, all of the existing A-5 line will be shut down.
In locations where lift-and-lay construction cannot be used, it is not yet determined if the existing A-5 line will be removed from the ground or if the line will be environmentally tested, filled with an inert substance and then safely abandoned in place. In either case, the existing A-5 easement will revert back to landowners.
Before deciding whether or not to remove parts of the A-5 line from the ground, the impact that work could have on sensitive areas like streams, wetlands or residential areas will be carefully considered. For example, removing parts of the A-5 line could create unnecessary disruptions to sites that are located along the old A-5 easement but which were avoided by the new Millennium route. Removing the older line also could potentially create unnecessary erosion and soil compaction in farming areas.
Waterways
Because the pipeline will cross Lake Erie and sensitive rivers in New York, Brack said the company will closely scrutinize the work in these areas, working closely with resource groups and commercial fishermen. “There are a lot of pipelines in the lake, but this would be the first pipeline to cross Erie,” he added. “We’re pretty excited about that.”
To minimize the environmental impact on shoreline areas, Columbia will use a directional boring procedure, which avoids the need for an open trench and is frequently and successfully used to construct pipelines beneath sensitive areas such as shorelines or wetlands.
A boring shore base will be positioned onshore approximately 500 ft. (152 m) from the lake. The 36-in. (91 cm) diameter pipeline will be installed in a drilled bore hole, which will descend to a maximum depth of about 200 ft. (61 m) below the shoreline and extend outward into the lake to a maximum of 5,000 ft. (1,515 m). The installed pipe will have about 100 ft. (30 m) of cover within several hundred feet of shoreline, providing maximum protection from wave action, anchor dragging and ice scour.
Once the directionally drilled pipeline is in place, the end of the pipe that is in the water will be picked up by a “lay barge.” On the barge, armor-coated pipe sections will be welded end-to-end and steadily lowered to the lake bottom. The lay barge will advance across the lake at a rate of 70 to 80 joints per day (about 2,800 to 3,200 ft./848 to 970 m). Mechanical jetting machines will be used to trench the offshore pipeline to a depth that provides adequate protection over the armored pipeline.
The innovative lay barge construction method means only a limited amount of trench (about 1,300 ft./394 m) will be open at any given time. This method also reduces sedimentation and turbidity over traditional trenching methods by 90 percent.
Poised to Begin
Concerns have been expressed about a 6-mi. (9.5 m) section of the pipeline’s proposed route along State Routes 9 and 9A in Westchester County. Columbia’s objective was to find the best pipeline route available. While acknowledging the inconvenience pipeline construction presents, the company stressed that, “We pledge to continue to work with local, county and state officials, citizens groups, and landowners to take all steps necessary to ensure that any disruptions will be minimized.”
When work does begin, several simultaneous construction spreads will allow most of the work to be completed in one season. An estimated 4,000 union construction workers will be pulled predominantly from the New York area, although Columbia will draw from local labor pools along the route. CEG
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