By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The 1.3-mile Princeton-portion of a new natural gas pipeline through central New Jersey and Pennsylvania is due to be fully installed by the end of next week, although it will not begin operating until the entire line is complete.
Pipeline company Williams has, through its subcontractor, been installing that 42-inch line in the Princeton Ridge section of town for the past month. The company anticipates wrapping up installation by Friday, June 12, municipal engineer Robert V. Kiser said.
More work needs to be done after that. Williams spokesman Christopher L. Stockton said the restoration of the area would go on through the summer, including reseeding and re-grading the area to its natural topography so drainage patterns are not impacted.
“Once the trench is backfilled, we will immediately start work on environmental restoration, which should last until the end of July or August,” Mr. Stockton said.
During the installation of the new line, Williams stopped running gas through its existing pipeline that runs parallel to the new one. That was done out of a safety concession to residents in that part of Princeton, who were concerned about the potential for a catastrophe if the line were running and an accident occurred during construction.
Williams said the old line is due to go back in regular operation June 13, a Saturday.
The company is building that new line through roughly 30 miles in parts of Pennsylvania and central New Jersey to increase its capacity to transport natural gas.
Williams has federal approval for what is known as its Leidy Southeast project. The company has targeted the end of this year for when gas will start running through the new line.
“However, to be clear, gas won’t start flowing through the new pipe segment until construction on the entire Leidy Southeast project is complete in December of this year,” Mr. Stockton said.
