Feedback
Q. What is the project schedule and how will landowners be affected?
A. Southern Natural Gas, as a federally regulated
interstate natural gas transmission company, must obtain permission
from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington,
D.C., in order to build and operate the new pipeline. Southern
applied for permission from FERC in the spring of 2005. The FERC
review process may take approximately 9 to 12 months to complete.
If approved, construction of the pipeline could begin in the fall
of 2006, and the pipeline would then begin flowing gas by May 2007.
If the proposed pipeline route crosses your land, Southern has
already tried to contact you by mail and a right-of-way agent may
have visited you to discuss the project and how you could be impacted.
Please see the Property Owner Interests section of the FAQ page
of this Web site for more information on surveys, land use, and
compensation for easements.
Q. What is Southern's method of compensating landowners for granting
a pipeline easement?
A. If an easement is required, Southern's land agents will work
with persons familiar with the local real estate market to help
determine a fair value for the landowner's property. Southern will
make an offer to the landowner based on this information, with
adjustments to recognize special factors identified by the landowner.
In addition to compensation for an easement, landowners will also
be compensated for specific damage to their property, if any, caused
by our survey and construction activity, such as the removal of
trees or crops. Any damage to fences will be repaired.
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Q. Several landowners asked about the safety of natural gas pipelines.
A. Pipelines are a very safe, reliable, and efficient
means of transporting natural gas. The manner and method of pipeline
construction and operations are regulated by the Department of
Transportation (DOT). DOT officials perform an inspection
on the pipeline every three years.
One key element of pipeline safety is that the pipeline used to
transport the natural gas is completely underground. Equipment
or facilities above ground include only flow-control valves, gas-measurement
instruments, regulating controls, and compressor stations. These
above-ground facilities will enable professionals to properly control
and service the pipeline.
Safety is a key corporate goal of Southern Natural Gas Company.
To ensure safe construction and operation of its pipelines, Southern
does the following:
- Southern builds safety into its construction practices by:
- Designing and constructing all pipeline facilities to meet
or exceed government safety requirements.
- Using equipment
and material that meet or exceed industry standards.
- Coating the
steel pipe with special protective compounds to inhibit corrosion.
-
Using low-voltage electricity on the surface of the pipe to further
protect against corrosion (cathodic protection).
- X-ray inspecting every weld joining each section of pipe.
- Burying the pipeline
to a minimum of 36 inches of ground cover.
- Pressure testing each
section of pipe, using water pressures higher than the normal operating
pressures.
- Inspecting each stage of construction by qualified
inspectors.
- Southern emphasizes safety in its operation and maintenance
practices by:
- Maintaining the right of way to facilitate operations and to
provide easy access for maintenance and repairs.
- Patrolling the
pipeline on a systematic basis — on the ground and in the air
— to make sure that activities around the pipeline do not disturb
or damage it in any way.
- Continuously monitoring operations electronically
from our gas-control facility.
- Following preventative maintenance
schedules for all facilities.
- Posting signs to indicate the location
of the pipeline and a phone number to call before digging. (We
participate in the One Call program, which provides property owners
and contractors with accurate information about the pipeline. It's
also an easy way to let us know of any planned excavations near
the pipeline.)
- Southern will facilitate rapid and effective response to possible
problems and emergencies by:
- Training local authorities
in responding to any pipeline-related problems.
- Supporting local
authorities with natural gas transmission professionals and services.
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Q. Are special construction methods required to enable heavy logging
equipment, including logging trucks, to safely cross the pipeline?
A. Natural gas pipelines are typically buried
three feet below the ground level. This amount of cover provides
adequate protection of the pipe from most surface activities. It
is not adequate, however, to protect the pipe from equipment such
as logging trucks, and if it is contemplated that heavy equipment
will need to have access across the right of way, special crossings
must be constructed during pipeline installation. This is often
accomplished by burying the pipeline deeper than normal, but additional
cover can also be provided by constructing a dirt ramp where site
conditions require it. Southern's rights of way agents will work
with landowners to identify the location of heavy equipment crossings.
Q. How do landowner plans to develop property affect the
pipeline project?
A. To the extent the development of the land
has increased its value, that fact will be recognized in the amount
of compensation Southern offers the landowner for the easement.
In addition, Southern always attempts to minimize the adverse impacts
of its rights of way on the adjacent property.
Q. Can the proposed pipeline be placed in the existing
electric utility right of way?
A. Since these existing utility rights of way
are already being utilized to provide an essential public service
(i.e. the transmission of electric power), they are available for
Southern's use only to the extent the dual uses are compatible
and do not compromise the safe operation and maintenance of facilities.
Because their operations often overlap, pipelines and electric
utilities have a good history of cooperating on the joint use of
rights of way, but there are circumstances in which the joint use
is limited or simply not possible. For example, both pipeline and
electric utilities, for safety reasons, must limit how close other
facilities and construction equipment can get to pipeline and power
structures.
In addition to maintaining safe distances between structures,
there are circumstances that can prevent Southern from placing
a pipeline in an existing power right of way. For example, a power
company may have plans for future facilities (like an additional
power line) that it intends to construct on the existing right
of way. Another obstacle is that in some areas, fiber optic cable,
water or sewer lines already occupy some of the existing power
line right of way, and their presence in the right of way may limit
or prevent the placement of a pipeline in the same easement.
Southern is working with existing rights of way owners to determine
if the dual use of the rights of way will be compatible. At a minimum,
Southern's current plan is to utilize the existing power line
right of way for temporary work space while installing the pipe,
Stacking soil in the existing right of way during pipe installation
will help to minimize the amount of land that will be disturbed
by the installation process.
Q. Will Southern use the existing right of way to stockpile
soil while the pipe is being installed?
A. Yes, to the extent the right of way owner
is agreeable.
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