COLUMBIA EXPANDING GAS OPERATIONS

(01/18/2008)
Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. has received regulatory approval for a major expansion of its natural-gas-transporting network from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The company will proceed with plans to drill and enlarge storage wells in Ohio and West Virginia and to lay about 15 miles of transmission lines in West Virginia and Virginia.

Eight miles of the new transmission lines will be laid in West Virginia. Three miles are in Clay County and 5.3 miles in Randolph County.

The pipe is laid mostly in 40-foot sections welded together and then lowered in a trench about 3 feet deep, according to Columbia.

Three new wells will be drilled at Columbia's storage field in the Blue Creek area of Kanawha County, Columbia officials have also said. Seven wells already at the site will be reconditioned for more capacity.