What's Happening With the Proposed Gas Pipeline?

The North Reading Board of Selectmen has rejected Kinder Morgan’s request to access town-owned land to survey for the proposed gas pipeline.

In a letter sent to Kinder Morgan this month, the selectmen said they still have questions and concerns about the project. Here are three of the seven issues that the selectmen raised:

• North Reading residents haven’t been able to engage with company officials about the proposal.
• The selectmen would like a report on the contracts associated with the proposed pipeline, including overseas suppliers and distributors.
• The board wants to know more about the company’s safety record.

You can read the letter with the full list of questions and concerns here.

The proposed Lynnfield line would run from Dracut to Lynnfield and would be a 20-inch pipe that would run from Kinder Morgan’s larger north and south lines, which are 32-inch pipes. The pipe would be put three feet underground.

The Lynnfield line would be part of a larger 13,000-mile Tennessee Gas pipeline system.

The Town of North Reading has provided a list of the parcels in the proposed route as well as the map of the route.

Kinder Morgan met with residents and town and state officials last June. During a heated meeting, residents and officials spoke out about the proposal. You can read more about that meeting here.

The company planned on having another informational meeting at the end of 2014, but that meeting was cancelled.

At the June meeting, company officials said they hope to file the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2015, get approval in 2016, start construction in 2017 and finish work in 2018.