DEP approves permits for Transco's 7-county pipeline expansion project

Bill O’Boyle, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 27—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced Monday that it has issued permits for the construction and operation of the Regional Energy Access Expansion Pipeline project by Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, LLC (Transco).

The project is an expansion of Transco's existing pipeline that will transport natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region in the northeastern part of the state, through seven counties in Northeast and Southeast Pennsylvania: Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and York.

The DEP's Regional Permit Coordination Office (RPCO) reviewed and approved three permits: one Chapter 102 (Erosion Control) permit application for earth disturbance activities located in Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Bucks and Chester counties; and two Chapter 105 (Water Obstruction and Encroachment) permits located in Luzerne County and Monroe County.

The project will not require earth disturbance in Delaware or York counties.

The pipeline will provide an incremental 829,400 dekatherms per day of natural gas capacity and will consist of new pipelines, a new gas-fired turbine driven compressor station, addition of gas-fired turbine driven compressor units at existing compressor stations, modification and uprate of existing compressors, abandonment of existing gas-fired compressors, modifications to existing compressor stations, modifications to existing pipeline tie-ins, addition of regulation controls at an existing valve setting, and modifications to existing regulators.

DEP held a virtual public hearing on the project on Oct. 5, 2022, to accept public comment on the above mentioned three permits. A comment/response document was also prepared in response to the comments received at the hearing. Written comments concerning the pipeline project were accepted also until Oct. 12, 2022.

A copy of all three permits and the comment/response documents are available on DEP's Pipeline Portal Page.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.