Federal regulators taking public comment on proposed gas storage wells and pipeline project near Pinch

The wells replacement project includes plugging and abandoning 4,927 feet of pipeline in place, abandoning 251 feet of pipeline by removal and plugging and abandoning four injection and withdrawal wells.

Staff for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released an environmental assessment last month concluding that the project wouldn’t significantly impact “the quality of the human environment� with appropriate mitigation measures. The commission, which regulates pipeline and storage facility construction and abandonment, is taking public comment on the environmental assessment until Nov. 21.

Columbia Gas Transmission’s aim is to protect the storage field’s integrity by abandoning the four existing wells due to their integrity and use the new wells to maintain storage field deliverability. Abandoning the old wells would reduce physical location risk in line with a federal Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration rule on well storage, according to the environmental assessment.

Columbia plans to use a 50-foot-wide corridor for pipeline construction and permanent right-of-way, with temporary impacts on roughly 22 acres and permanent land impacts on approximately 4.3 acres. The two new wellheads would be the only new aboveground facilities.

Abandonment activities would be finished in nine months, according to the environmental assessment. Columbia intends to receive all required project approvals by March 1, a timeline that would allow the new wells to be complete and in service by the fourth quarter of 2023. If all approvals aren’t secured by March 1, project construction wouldn’t start until Jan. 1, 2024, per the assessment.

Ten residences, five nonresidential structures and one inactive commercial structure are within 50 feet of proposed project construction work areas. Columbia prepared a residential construction plan for each of the three residences within 25 feet of those areas.

The residences are near the Upper Pinch Estates road north of Upper Pinch Road above Pinch Creek, just west of First Baptist Church of Pinch.

Well site drilling may result in a “minor increase� in sound levels at the church on Sundays and at night over a three-month, 24-hour per day drilling period, according to the assessment.

Included in the environmental assessment is the residential construction plan, which requires a contractor to build and maintain a safety fence between the construction zone and adjacent residences and not leave any excavations or trenches open overnight.

Abandonment and construction activities would last from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except for well drilling. The drill rig would be operational 24 hours and seven days a week. Drilling of the new wells is slated to start in the second quarter of 2023 and be finished in three months.

Estimated construction emissions would total roughly 43 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and 171 tons of particulate matter in 2023, per the assessment.

The project would cross eight waterbodies, including Pinch Creek and unnamed tributaries to the creek and Potato Fork. A new, permanent three-sided culvert would be constructed within Pinch Creek in a Federal Emergency Management Agency Special Flood Hazard Area. The Pinch Creek culvert would permanently impact 66 linear feet of Pinch Creek.

A building permit from the Kanawha County Commission is required before construction can start within the Special Flood Hazard Area, according to the assessment. The federal government defines a Special Flood Hazard Area as having special flood, mudflow or flood-related erosion hazards.

The commission staff predicted that significant flooding impacts aren’t expected due to the relatively small area within the Special Flood Hazard Area to be permanently impacted.

Columbia shouldn’t start construction until the staff consults with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding a proposed species endangerment listing for the tricolored bat, the commission staff advised. The staff said the tricolored bat could be impacted by the project but added that the project isn’t likely to jeopardize its existence.

The staff dismissed a previously submitted comment that Columbia had deliberately understated the land requirements for construction, noting that Columbia must stay within its 21.9-acre certified workspace boundary.

Comments are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 21. The commission encourages electronic filing of comments using the eComment feature on the commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to FERC Online. Comments with files attached can be submitted using the eFiling feature on the commission’s website under the link to FERC Online. New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on “eRegister.�

Paper copies can be mailed to the commission. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St. NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Ave., Rockville, MD 20852. The project docket number, CP22-227-000, must be referenced on the letter, the agency said.