Pipeline

could be

done by

Nov. 1

Ag impact plan, easements

needed before construction starts

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

HUTCHINSON -- Now that Hutchinson Utilities has received approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Planning Environmental Quality Board, work begins in earnest on the $26.5 million, 89-mile natural gas pipeline.

And New Ulm Utilities Department's participation in the project is guaranteed because an agreement for New Ulm to tap into the line has been reached.

But that doesn't mean all hurdles have been removed from the project's path, according to John Webster, natural gas division manager. One is the EQB's requirement that Hutchinson Utilities submit an agricultural impact mitigation plan by Feb. 28, 2003.

"We are meeting with each county to arrive at how they want us to cross their farm lands," Webster said. "What they want us to do to make sure that when we go through, we leave it in as good a shape as it was when we got there."

It's a fairly common requirement, Webster said.

"Normally, you're just required to follow the mitigation plans that FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) puts in place or that the state puts in place. The state here has been edging toward trying to do the same mitigation plan that Alliance Pipeline did when they came through. Unfortunately, as a municipal, we cannot subscribe to the same theories as Alliance subscribed to."

Because the city's proposed route was changed to the so-called farmers' route between New Ulm and Hutchinson, this has forced Hutchinson Utilities to scramble a bit to obtain easements for the changed route.

"The farmers' route primarily follows the road so it has us going through farmers' front yards, cutting their driveways, cutting through county tiles, that type of thing," Webster explained. "Our route was out in the middle of their fields. One thing to note, however, is the route is a mile and a quarter wide so we will work with every landowner along there to find out where they want it."

An above-ground pipe won't run through people's yards, Webster said.

"The pipeline will be buried. State statute requires that we have 54 inches of fill above the pipe. The pipe will be 16 inches outside diameter from Trimont to basically south of New Ulm. Then, it's 12 3/4 inches (OD) from New Ulm to Hutchinson. It actually steps down south of where New Ulm ties on. We will have 34 miles of 16-inch and 55 miles of 12-inch," Webster said.

There also are permits to be obtained from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and from the individual counties for crossing roads. The pipeline will cut through six counties, including Martin, Watonwan, Brown, Nicollet, Sibley and McLeod.

However, it's not like Webster and his staff will be going from farm to farm and doing all the detail work connected with the project.

"We've hired Phillip McLean of Natural Gas Consulting in Omaha, Neb., to do all that work," Webster said.

New Ulm will be connecting on with a 5-mile length of feeder pipe that will follow public road rights-of-way, terminating at KC Road and North Broadway.

While the two communities have a basic agreement in place, Webster said, staffs of the two departments need to meet to discuss aspects of the agreement in more detail.

"We're just trying to get a date set up where New Ulm staff and Hutchinson staff can get together to formulate what the tariff will look like and the charges, that type of thing, New Ulm's fees will be based on the percent of the pipe that they're using. The fees that they pay Hutchinson will be used to assist us in paying off our bonds, but they're not buying into the pipe," Webster said.

Hutchinson Utilities already has awarded bids for construction of its pipeline and the pipe itself. Jomax Construction Co., Inc., Great Bend, Kan., was the low bidder for construction with bids of $18.60 per foot of 16-inch pipe and $15.58 per foot of 12-inch pipe or a total bid of about $10 million.

The pipe will cost another $8 million.

"We're telling our city council that the project will cost $26.5 million if everything goes according to plan," Webster said.

Despite all the things left to do before a foot of pipe can be laid, Webster is optimistic the project will stay on schedule.

"We're still looking at May 1 as our start date and Nov. 1 as our completion date," Webster said.

It won't be a case of not having any gas, however, if the project doesn't meet its completion date, even though both Hutchinson and New Ulm have cancelled their contracts with Northern Natural Gas effective Oct. 30.

"It's not like we'll be out searching for gas," Webster chuckled. "We'll still be able to buy it from our current supplier on a spot basis."