The federal government’s signed off on another step of Tulsa’s Williams Partners and its plan to construct the Atlantic Sunrise expansion project, an expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline to connect Marcellus gas supplies with markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.
The final Environmental Impact Statement was published Dec. 30 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In it, the FERC determined the environmental impacts would be reduced to “less than significant levels” with the implementation of mitigation measures proposed by the company and the regulatory agency.
The FERC action is considered a key step toward the Commission’s final decision on the project. That’s expected early this year. Williams Partners anticipates construction to begin on the mainline portion of the project facilities in mid-2017. The construction will create a path from the northern part of the Transco system to markets along the Eastern Seaboard for a portion of the project capacity in time for the 2017-2018 heating season. Construction on the Central Penn Line is targeted for the 3rd quarter of 2017 and would allow for those facilities to be placed into service in mid-2018.