Williams Partners' Atlantic Sunrise Gets FERC Environmental Impact Statement

(RTTNews) - Williams Partners (WPZ) said that it has reached a regulatory milestone toward obtaining federal approval to construct its proposed Atlantic Sunrise expansion project - an expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline to connect abundant Marcellus gas supplies with markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC on December 30 published its final Environmental Impact Statement or EIS for the proposed project, concluding that environmental impacts would be reduced to "less than significant levels" with the implementation of mitigation measures proposed by the company and FERC.

The FERC action is a key step toward the Commission's final decision on the project, which is expected in early 2017. Following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, Williams Partners anticipates beginning construction on the mainline portion of the project facilities in mid-2017.

These mainline facilities will create a much-needed path from the northern part of the Transco system to markets along the Eastern Seaboard for a portion of the project capacity in time for the 2017-2018 heating season.

Construction on the Central Penn Line, the greenfield portion of the project, is targeted to begin early in the 3rd Quarter of 2017, which would allow for those facilities to be placed into service in mid-2018.