By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NORCO – Officials with Valero St. Charles Refinery and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, a Houston-based pipeline and storage company, announced this week that construction should move forward this summer on a $220 million pipeline between Valero’s Norco refinery and a pipeline hub just north of Hattiesburg, Miss.

The pipeline, which will transport gasoline and diesel fuel about 140 miles from the Valero refinery to the hub in Collins, Miss., was proposed last September as a partnership between Valero and Kinder Morgan, which employs about 550 people in Louisiana.

Corey Faucheux, director of Economic Development for St. Charles Parish, said Kinder Morgan officials have indicated that construction costs for the pipeline are expected to reach $140 million in Louisiana alone, which could boost local sales tax revenue by about $3.3 million, according to estimates from the company. He said the project is expected to generate 1,200 temporary jobs at its peak.

“When it’s all said and done, there’s quite a lot of economic activity going on over there,” Faucheux said. “This is one of a list of projects underway at Valero that the parish will benefit from.”

Valero spokesman Bill Day said the project bucks the trend of energy companies giving increased attention to handling natural gas exports, which have become more affordable. He said the project illustrates the idea that materials manufactured at refineries in the U.S. are being kept for domestic use.

Allen Fore, director of public affairs for Kinder Morgan, said the company would construct and operate the proposed 16-inch pipeline, which is slated to travel northeast from Norco through Lake Pontchartrain and further northward into Walthall County, Miss. The line will transport the fuel to a transportation hub in Collins operated by Kinder Morgan.

“Once the materials from Valero reach the hub, the refined petroleum products will be transported by pipeline systems that serve major markets in the southern United States,” Fore said. “The pipeline is expected to be in service by 2013 and will have an initial capacity of 110,000 barrels per day, with the ability to expand to more than 200,000 barrels per day.”

The project is still pending approval from the state Department of Natural Resources, which said the line would impact the Louisiana coastal zone, a 5.3 million-acre area that includes 40 percent of the nation’s coastal wetlands. Officials with DNR said the project involves the excavation of about 24 acres of wetlands and uplands and 38 acres of water bottoms. Details of the project were listed in a public notice printed Feb. 21, opening a 25-day window for public comment. Fore anticipates the permit being issued in the coming months.

“Louisiana is a state where Kinder Morgan has done a lot of business over the years, major pipelines in the last few years, and significant operations currently in the state,” Fore said. “We’re familiar with the state and the regulating agencies. It’s a very positive relationship with those folks. We’re not introducing ourselves. We’ve been here. We don’t foresee any setbacks.”

Fore said property owners along the proposed route will be paid for the construction and operations that take place on their land. He added that Kinder Morgan plans to notify affected property owners before conducting site surveys.

If an agreement between both sides cannot be reached, Fore said the company could seek an easement of the land using eminent domain.