By Dan Hust
HANCOCK — The Millennium Pipeline Company has settled on Delaware County’s Town of Hancock for a proposed compressor station.
Still, it’s located less than two miles from the Sullivan County/Town of Fremont border, along Hungry Hill Road just north of Long Eddy.
“My understanding is it’s on some land we already own,” explained Millennium spokesman Tom Collins last week.
According to the company’s website (www.millenniumpipeline.com/hancock_compressor.html), Millennium hopes to build a “15,000-horsepower natural gas turbine-driven centrifugal compressor to increase pressure – and thereby throughput capacity – on the Millennium Pipeline.”
The company had scouted more than 40 locations in the area, many in Sullivan County, whose western and southern regions the pipeline traverses.
The line was recently upgraded and carries natural gas from western New York and Canadian gas wells to the New York City region.
Collins previously said the impetus for the new compressor station was to meet new contracts signed with companies interested in utilizing the pipeline.
Costing around $12 million, it will be similar to a controversial compressor station proposed for Orange County: a main building 85'x70' with a 52' stack, and a 36'x93' control building standing 21' high.
Millennium’s website says the building will be screened and the noises and air emissions minimized, along with 24-hour remote monitoring and secure fencing.
It plans to hold public outreach efforts and already has listed a phone number and email address for questions: 607-304-9029, info@millenniumpipeline.com.
The next step, Collins explained, is filing a full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the fall.
FERC has final approval authority, but either it or Millennium could ultimately choose an alternative site that might be in Sullivan County, Collins confirmed. That’s not envisioned at this stage, and the company hopes to have the station operating by November 2013.