PEARL RIVER, N.Y., June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Millennium Pipeline Company (Millennium) recently received two major environmental approvals, paving the way for the construction of its 181-mile, buried natural gas pipeline across New York's Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley:
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-- The Buffalo and New York City district offices of the US Army Corps of
Engineers (Corps) jointly issued a permit authorizing Millennium to
install its pipeline across federal jurisdictional wetlands and
waterways, as well as beneath navigable waters.
-- Just prior to the issuance of the Corps permit, Millennium received a
Water Quality Certificate from the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), specifying detailed conditions for
installing the project across water resources, consistent with state
water quality standards. This certificate is pursuant to Section 401 of
the Clean Water Act.
The Corps and NYSDEC approvals culminate years of detailed environmental evaluations conducted by Millennium and a variety of government agencies. This effort was led by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and involved the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, among others.
These environmental studies were aimed at designing the project to minimize or mitigate potential adverse effects to the environmental resources and landowners along the pipeline route. The Millennium project received FERC approval in late December 2006.
"We now have all of our major regulatory approvals in place to begin construction," said Millennium President Dick Leehr. "We have given the highest priority to designing our project with sensitivity toward environmental protection, and will continue this commitment during construction. We appreciate the significant efforts of the regulatory agencies in reviewing our project."
The Millennium Pipeline is anchored by its customers KeySpan Energy Delivery Long Island, Consolidated Edison of New York, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation and Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation. Millennium will serve markets along its route in the Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley as well as providing essential service to the New York City markets through its pipeline interconnections. Millennium will transport up to 525,400 Dth/day when it goes in service in November, 2008. Millennium is jointly owned by affiliates of NiSource, Inc., KeySpan Corporation, and DTE Energy.
About NiSource, KeySpan and DTE Energy:
NiSource Inc. , based in Merrillville, Ind., is a Fortune 500 holding company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution. NiSource operating companies deliver energy to 3.7 million customers located within the high-demand energy corridor stretching from the Gulf Coast through the Midwest to New England. Information about NiSource and its subsidiaries is available via the Internet at http://www.nisource.com/.
KeySpan Corporation. A member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, KeySpan Corporation is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast with 2.5 million customers, operating regulated natural gas utilities in New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire under the KeySpan Energy Delivery service company. KeySpan is also the largest investor owned electric generator in New York State, with approximately 6,400 Mw of generating capacity providing power to 1.1 million Long Island Power Authority customers on Long Island and supplying 25 percent of New York City's capacity needs. KeySpan also has strategic investments in natural gas exploration, production, pipeline transportation, distribution and storage, and Canadian gas processing. KeySpan has headquarters in Brooklyn, Boston and Long Island and 12,000 employees. More information is available at http://www.keyspanenergy.com/.
DTE Energy is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its largest operating units are Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in southeastern Michigan, and MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE Energy portfolio of businesses also includes non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, coal and gas midstream, unconventional gas production and energy trading. In 2006, DTE Energy posted revenues of approximately $9 billion. Information about DTE Energy is available at http://www.dteenergy.com/.
Forward-looking statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations discussed herein include, among others things, risks associated with contract termination rights, increased competition in deregulated energy markets, weather, fluctuations in supply and demand for energy commodities, growth opportunities, dealings with third parties over whom Millennium has no control, actual operating experience, the regulatory process, regulatory and legislative changes, changes in general economic, capital and commodity market conditions, and counter-party credit risk, many of which are beyond the control of Millennium. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Millennium does not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revision to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.
