43
Girard council considers pipeline
By jeanne starmack
girard
City council has approved negotiations with Halcon Field Services to run a gas pipeline through city property west of the lower lake.
Councilman Joe Shelby, chairman of council’s building and grounds committee, said Halcon made a proposal Nov. 11 at a council caucus meeting.
Council has authorized the mayor, safety-service director and law director to negotiate a potential agreement.
Halcon is drilling into the Utica Shale, with nine wells between northern Trumbull County and northwestern Pennsylvania, Shelby said. The pipeline would be a collection line that would run 14 miles from Vienna to Lordstown and a railroad there, he said.
Its purpose would be to transport its product, including some liquids but mostly natural gas, Shelby said.
The proposal to the city includes a 40-foot easement that would accommodate up to three separate pipes, he said.
Halcon is pursuing two routes to the north of the city parcels that will affect the entry point of the pipeline on the northern border, a letter from Halcon to Shelby indicates. One route is 4,420 feet long and the other is 3,646 feet long, according to a map that shows the proposed routes.
Regardless of which route the pipeline takes, the city will be paid $132,600, the letter says.
Shelby said council had questions about the safety of the line and whether it would affect any future refilling of the lake, which is now dry.
He said council was told the 14- or 16-inch pipes are welded and epoxy-coated, heavier than industry standards, and would be buried a minimum of 48 inches deep.
Shelby said the line would not run under the lake itself.
He said the council is confident the agreement would not affect any future refilling.