By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
A 15-kilometre to 16-kilometre pipeline project Union Gas is investigating in south-central Lambton County is part of a $1-billion to $2-billion investment the natural gas company is considering for a major pipeline corridor in southern Ontario.
Spokesperson Andrea Stass said Union Gas is in the “very initial planning stages” for a project to build a 48-inch pipeline between its Dawn storage hub on Bentpath Line in Dawn-Euphemia to its existing Enniskillen pressure station on Oakdale Road, just north of Oil Springs, in Enniskillen Township.
“It is actually an expansion of our broader Dawn Parkway system,” Stass said. “That’s a natural gas transportation system that runs essentially from Dawn, up to Milton.”
From there, the company’s pipelines connect up with others to serve “pretty much all of Ontario, and eastern Quebec and into the Northeastern U.S.”
Union Gas is planning a number of expansions along the route in 2017, including the project in Lambton County, she said.
The proposal is in the early planning stages and Union Gas is assessing market demand, Stass said.
“The reason for the expansion is there is an increased demand, we believe, to transport natural gas along that Dawn Parkway corridor,” she said.
Union Gas recently published notices it has begun planning for the Dawn-Enniskillen project.
“We’re at the stage where we’re having initial consultations with the municipalities,” Stass said.
“We have retained a firm to conduct an environment assessment, and they are starting that now.”
At this point, the company hasn’t settled on a route for the expanded pipeline in Lambton.
“We’re not necessarily going to follow the route of the existing corridor,” Stass said.
“The route will be determined through the environmental assessment process, and in consultation with the municipality, First Nations, and with landowners.”
Information open houses are expected to be held this spring, Stass said.
Union Gas is currently awaiting approval from the Ontario Energy Board for a $24.3-million pipeline project to deliver more natural gas to Sarnia and the Chemical Valley from its Dawn hub.
“It is a very strategic location, in that you have a number of pipeline bringing gas in from pretty much all across North America,” Stass said.
The natural gas is stored at the Dawn hub and transported east through Ontario, where it connects with other pipelines feeding Eastern Canada, Quebec and the Northeastern U.S., she said.