NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) — Duke Energy is working on a multimillion-dollar proposal for a natural gas pipeline that would go underneath the Ohio River to a southern Indiana power plant.
The pipeline is part of a plan Duke is considering to convert two of the plant’s four coal-burning generators to gas in order to reduce pollution as it agreed to in a federal lawsuit settlement.
The new 19-mile pipeline would run from an existing pipeline southwest of Louisville, Ky., and be buried 80 feet under the Ohio River, then ending at Duke’s Gallagher plant near New Albany.
Duke spokesman Lew Middleton said the company expected a long permit process before deciding by early 2012 whether to proceed with the project.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke agreed in December to spend about $80 million to cut sulfur dioxide emissions at the New Albany plant by nearly 35,000 tons a year.
That was part of the company’s $93 million deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over clean air violations at the plant where unauthorized changes significantly boosted air pollution.
Environmentalists have called the plant, which dates back to 1958, one of the nation’s dirtiest in terms of air pollution produced per unit of electricity.
Harrison County Commissioner James Goldman said he first found out about the project last week in a letter from the company. A member of Duke’s pipeline management team also spoke this week to the County Council about the plans.
While local leaders still have questions about the project, Goldman said, “I don’t see any problem with it as long as our people in the area are treated fairly.”
Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Carol Laboshosky said the agency knew little so far about Duke’s plans, but any permit application must address how the Ohio River’s water quality would be protected and how damage to the river and wetlands would be minimized.
Duke officials say building the pipeline would require the company to buy easements for as many as 100 parcels of land, including property owned by a sand quarry and the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino.
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Duke planning gas pipeline to S. Ind. power plant
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