Ticonderoga Gas Pipeline Dead

Ticonderoga Gas Pipeline Dead

A number of news organizations are reporting that the planned extension of a natural gas pipeline to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga has been scrapped.

Ticonderoga Gas Pipeline Dead

The Vermont Gas Systems pipeline had been proposed to run from Cornwall, VT to Ticonderoga, NY.
Map: Addison County Regional Planning Commission

The project was to carry natural gas through a pipeline under Lake Champlain from Vermont to the New York shore, providing a lower-cost, lower carbon emission form of energy to the Ticonderoga, New York plant, one of the biggest employers in the Adirondack Park.

According to a statement published by the Burlington Free Press, Vermont Gas officials suggested that rising costs had derailed the project.  “Our updated estimate for Phase 2 is now $105 million, compared to $74.4 million as presented to the Public Service Board last August,” said Jim Sinclair,  Vice-President for system expansion at Vermont Gas.

The project faced stiff opposition from some Vermont residents who felt that the pipeline violated their property rights and posed safety concerns, without little financial benefit to their communities.

In 2003, IP spokeswoman Donna Wadsworth described the pipeline as a significant boost for the mill. “We look at natural gas as being a cleaner energy, an opportunity to reduce our greenhouse gases.  So for us it’s a game-changing project,” she said.

“We haven’t seen the details behind the cost escalation. We do know from VT Gas that construction costs have gone up. Legal costs have gone up. Right-of-way costs have gone up. Overhead costs have gone up. So just across the board I think they saw an escalation of costs for the project.” ~ Donna Wadsworth, IP spokeswoman 

Wadsworth called the rising price tag a “setback,” but she said the company still plans on bringing natural gas into the mill. It’s just going to come from somewhere else. She said IP plans to truck in compressed natural gas from nearby energy companies.

This represents the latest unsuccessful effort by International Paper to lower energy costs at the mill.  IP had also proposed burning waste tires in Ticonderoga to generate energy, a proposal that also faced significant opposition among Vermonters.

Rising costs have also raised questions about which sections of the pipeline are to be built on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain.

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