KINDER MORGAN WATCH

BY BRIAN GADD • CentralOhio.com • January 6, 2010

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20100106/NEWS01/1060307

PHILO -- Repairs and inspections of the Rockies Express natural gas pipeline continue in the Philo area this week, fallout from the November line failure that led to an evacuation of some residents.

Duncan Run Road just west of the village will be closed for the remainder of the week for the work.

A few small signs were posted along the route Tuesday, and a worker with a stop sign was holding back traffic as a large backhoe was in operation.

Allen Fore, director of community relations with Kinder Morgan Partners and spokesman for the REX project, said an open cut of the road would be conducted and a section of the pipeline uncovered.

In addition to the use of an internal device inside the pipe, a visual inspection of welds from the outside will be conducted.

There's no timeline for when the inspections will be complete and the pipeline operations are back online.

Pressure testing was conducted in December on the line east of the compressor station on Irish Ridge Road, the site of the line failure back on Nov. 14.

"We're taking every precaution to insure the safety of this line," Fore said.

Members of both the Henkels & McCoy and Price Gregory contractor teams will take part in the inspection.

While Henkels crews conducted pipeline activity in Perry and western Muskingum County, Price Gregory crews worked on the pipeline spread in the Guernsey County area this past year, as well as at the compressor station.

"They are both experienced in that area and it should accelerate the work," Fore said.

The local leg of the 1,679-mile REX Pipeline, from the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming to Clarington in Monroe County, runs through Fairfield, Perry, Muskingum and Guernsey counties.

The bulk of work was completed last fall and the local portion of pipeline went into operation Nov. 12, before the Nov. 14 accident brought work to a halt.