A newly-proposed two-mile, 10-inch lateral pipeline would connect the proposed PennEast natural gas pipeline with a UGI gas interconnection facility near the I-78 overpass at Easton Road, and cut a swath through rural northeastern Lower Saucon Township, according to a proposal discussed with federal regulators last month and cited by the Morning Call in a story published Wednesday.
According to the article, the lateral line would help deliver natural gas to primarily industrial customers such as Calpine Energy’s power plant on Applebutter Road in Bethlehem.
An interactive Google map posted on the PennEast pipeline website shows the lateral intersecting with the main pipeline along Redington Road, just north of where I-78 and Route 33 intersect south of the Lehigh River.
From there, according to the map, it would extend southwest across Applebutter and Sherry Hill roads to Easton Road, running roughly parallel with I-78.
In an email about the map, PennEast Pipeline Company Government and Community Affairs representative Alisa E. Harris stressed that the latest map is not necessarily the final one.
“The proposed pipeline route information is accurate as of Oct. 31, 2014,” she wrote. “Because the route is still under development, PennEast will update the map regularly.”
The map is considered interactive because it allows users to type an address into the search box “to determine the general proximity of the proposed pipeline route to their property,” according to the email.
The PennEast pipeline project has already generated controversy and opposition in some of the communities it would potentially bisect, such as Durham Township, Bucks County, and a Facebook group called “Stop the PennEast Pipeline” has attracted more than 1,300 followers.
A public meeting with PennEast officials is scheduled to be held Wednesday, Nov. 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hanover Township Community Center, 3660 Jacksonville Road, Bethlehem–one of a series of open houses scheduled this month by PennEast.
According to a flyer about the open houses posted last month on the Lower Saucon Township website, “the open houses are one of several steps in PennEast’s commitment to communicating and working with you and other stakeholders. Local input is important to identifying a pipeline route that will minimize impact to the environment and community while providing a safe and reliable way to deliver low cost natural gas, stable supplies and overall reduced energy costs to consumers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.”
