OHIO COUNTY, WV:
A worker died Thursday in Ohio County after a tracked vehicle moving a piece of natural gas pipe slipped on frozen ground and struck him, according to the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency’s director.
Director Lou Vargo said the man worked for a contractor for MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P., though he didn’t know the name of the contracting company Thursday night. He said he didn’t know whether the pipeline was meant to carry natural gas or some other product related to natural gas mining.
Vargo said he wasn’t sure whether the victim was from West Virginia, and said family members still need to be notified. He said the county sheriff’s office, which is leading the local investigation, would be releasing the victim’s name.
Ohio sheriff’s Deputy B. Frey said the incident occurred around 1 p.m. and the investigation is ongoing. Vargo said it happened several miles outside West Liberty, probably 400-500 yards from the intersection of GC&P and Dement roads.
Vargo said a trackhoe, a tracked vehicle with an arm, was carrying up a hill a new section of pipe suspended by a belt from its arm. He said two workers, the victim among them, were holding ropes attached to the suspended 2-foot diameter pipe in order to control its direction.
He said the victim was holding the rope downhill from the vehicle when it slipped on the ice.
“He was dead on arrival when West Liberty Emergency Medical Services arrived,” Vargo said. “It was just a tragic accident that occurred.”
He said that in addition to the sheriff’s office, the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department/EMS and county medical examiner responded to the scene.
MarkWest is a subsidiary of MPLX LP, a master limited partnership formed by Marathon Petroleum Corporation. Jamal T. Kheiry, communications manager for Marathon Petroleum, emailed the following statement Thursday night and said he didn’t have any additional information to provide at that time:
“At approximately 1:00 p.m. today, while installing new pipe on a right of way in Ohio County, West Virginia, a subcontractor was fatally injured. Federal and state regulatory agencies have been contacted. Work on this project was immediately suspended and MarkWest issued a safety stand-down on all similar work sites across the Tri-state region while we thoroughly investigate this tragic event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and co-workers of the deceased.”
MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. engages in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas. The company is also involved in the gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; and the gathering and transportation of crude oil. It has presence in various natural gas resource plays, including the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale, Huron/Berea Shale, Haynesville Shale, Woodford Shale, and Granite Wash formation. MarkWest Energy GP, L.L.C. serves as the general partner of the company. MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Pipeline to carry natural-gas liquids from Ohio to Texas moving forward
Published: July 22, 2014 - 11:00 AM
By Akron Beacon Journal Staff
Bob Downing
Plans for a pipeline to carry natural-gas liquids from Ohio to the Gulf Coast are progressing.
Dubbed the Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline Project, the pipeline is being developed by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and its partner, MarkWest Utica EMG LLC. It is designed to serve the Utica and Marcellus shale regions in Ohio and surrounding states.
New details for the project, first announced in August, have emerged on a fact sheet posted on Kinder Morgan’s website.
The pipeline would run from a proposed natural-gas processing plant in Uhrichsville in southern Tuscarawas County to Mont Belvieu, Texas.
The new processing plant and pipeline are estimated to cost $1 billion, although no figures have been posted.
The project calls for converting 1,005 miles of Kinder Morgan’s 24-inch and 26-inch Tennessee Gas Pipeline system, switching it from carrying natural gas to transporting related liquids such as ethane, butane and propane.
The existing pipeline runs from Mercer County in western Pennsylvania to Natchitoches, La. A new line, stretching about 200 miles, would be built from Natchitoches to Mont Belvieu.
The project also includes about 160 miles of new laterals and interconnects in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
The pipeline would have an initial capacity of 150,000 barrels per day. That would be expanded to 400,000 barrels per day with the addition of pump stations.
The new pipeline is scheduled to be in full service by the second quarter of 2017.
Houston-based Kinder Morgan would own 75 percent of the liquids pipeline and Denver-based MarkWest Utica EMG would have the option to invest in the remaining 25 percent.
Kinder Morgan would operate the new pipeline.
That company also formed a partnership with Houston-based Targa Resources Partners LP to build a fractionation facility to separate liquids at Mont Belvieu.
In related news, TransCanada Corp.’s ANR Pipeline Co. is conducting an open sign-up season through July 28 for its proposed ANR East Pipeline across northern Ohio.
The pipeline would run from gas-processing facilities in Columbiana and Carroll counties in eastern Ohio to near Defiance in northwest Ohio, where it would connect with existing and proposed pipelines to the Gulf Coast and to Detroit, Ontario and the Midwest.
The pipeline, scheduled to be operational in the third quarter of 2017, would improve access to Utica gas to 35 Midwest utilities that generate electricity and either burn natural gas or could switch to natural gas in the future.