Plans in works for new natural gas transmission pipeline that could pass through Michigan

Plans are in the works for a new natural gas transmission pipeline that could pass through Michigan on its way to Ontario, Canada, raising concerns among some residents who have seen their property dug up for an ongoing oil pipeline project.

The proposed new gas pipeline project would partially track along part of the same route as the major oil pipeline that's being replaced by Canadian company Enbridge across Michigan's Lower Peninsula, the Detroit Free Press reported (http://on.freep.com/1r2J1Ke ).

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Vicki Granado said the natural gas project by ET Rover Pipeline, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, is in a pre-filing process. Another application is due to the regulatory agency in January.

"As currently contemplated, the project will be a 42-inch pipeline with a design capacity up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day," Granado said.

The company projects that the pipeline will create more than 5,000 temporary construction jobs and 30 to 40 additional permanent jobs. About 150 miles of the pipeline would be in Michigan, passing through Washtenaw, Livingston, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties.

Jeffrey Insko, an Oakland County resident, has an online blog for property owners to share experiences and information about the Enbridge project. If approved, backhoes, bulldozers and work crews could return to some of the same areas along the oil pipeline's route to Sarnia, Ontario.

"To think of having their lives disrupted and their property torn up again when it hasn't even been fully restored is a demoralizing prospect," Insko said.

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Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com