FERC Accepts Palomar Gas Transmission Application for Environmental Review
September 4, 2007
PORTLAND, Oregon – September 4, 2007 -- Palomar Gas Transmission LLC (Palomar), a newly formed joint venture of TransCanada Corporation (TransCanada) (NYSE, TSE: TRP) and Northwest Natural Gas Company (NW Natural) (NYSE: NWN), announced today that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has accepted its request to initiate the FERC “pre-filing” review process of the environmental aspects of the proposed pipeline in Oregon.
Palomar intends to file its certificate application with FERC to build and operate the interstate natural gas pipeline in the Spring of 2008. The recent “pre-filing” request for environmental review allows FERC staff to interact with Palomar, other agencies, and the public prior to the filing of a formal certificate application..
TransCanada and NW Natural are equal owners of the joint venture. TransCanada’s Gas Transmission Northwest System (GTN), headquartered in Portland, will operate the proposed pipeline, extending approximately 220 miles from north-central Oregon to northwestern Oregon.
Palomar is examining several route alternatives. Routes identified by Palomar will cross sensitive environmental areas, including wetlands, forests, rivers, and agricultural lands in the Willamette Valley.
“NW Natural and TransCanada are keenly aware of the environmental considerations of building natural gas pipelines. We have a combined experience of nearly two centuries of operating underground pipelines in this part of the country, and we are knowledgeable both of the challenges ahead and of the importance Oregonians place on our state’s environmental and cultural resources,” said Keith White, vice president of business development and energy supply of NW Natural. “We’re going to build this pipeline properly, and it takes a thorough environmental review to accomplish that task.” NW Natural serves about 641,000 residential, business, and industrial customers in Oregon and southwest Washington.
Palomar recently conducted a series of open houses along the proposed route in Maupin, Molalla, McMinnville, and Forest Grove. Landowner and citizen input from those meetings will be forwarded to FERC as part of its review. In addition, FERC will solicit additional public input on the scope of the environmental review. The dates, times, and locations of FERC’s scoping meetings will soon be posted on FERC’s website at www.ferc.gov and on this website (www.palomargas.com). Landowners and other stakeholders will also be notified of the scoping process by letter.