Long-awaited pipeline funnels gas across 8 states

[phantom power]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A 1,679-mile pipeline crossing eight states is now fully completed and funneling natural gas from Wyoming and Colorado to the eastern edge of Ohio.

The long-awaited Rockies Express Pipeline became fully operational Nov. 12 following the recent completion of the final 195-mile section between Warren and Monroe counties in eastern Ohio. The $6.8 billion pipeline carries 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas, enough to heat 4 million homes, and took three years to complete.

Wyoming gas producers and state officials are hopeful that the ability to export more gas to markets in the East will mean better prices and revenue.

"We have for a long time in Wyoming wanted to get, with the gas we produce, farther east," Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in a news conference Tuesday with pipeline officials. "This does it for us."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091118/ap_on_re_us/us_rockies_express

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Small hiccup at the eastern end of the pipeline - not far from where I live

Neighbors question Rockies Express Pipeline leak response
Portion of pipeline shut down
BY BRIAN GADD • Staff Writer • November 17, 2009

A giant "whoosh," a cloud of dust, and cars streaming out of the Rockies Express Pipeline Compressor Station on Irish Ridge Road definitely caused some nervousness for Craig Elliott and his neighbors.

Living just across the road from the station property, Elliott and others have heard the sound before, when the compressor tanks are "blown." But all of the activity surrounding the plant Saturday morning was another thing entirely.

"I started seeing them (pipeline employees or contractors) fly out of there like 100 miles per hour and knew that something wasn't right," Elliott said. "There was that big sound, and then dust or something up in the air. The thing that gets me is, they didn't warn us what was happening. They just took off."

What had occurred Saturday was apparently a leak in the REX 42-inch natural-gas pipeline that snakes its way across Muskingum County.

more...

http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009911170309

People who live in the area are a tad upset - understandably so.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. That must be a little... unnerving

I'm reminded of the "Bomb Disposal - If you see me running, try to keep up" T-shrirts. I wonder if they do a "Pipeline Contractor" version?