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Citing Lack of Customer Commitments, Funding Pulled For Bluegrass Pipeline

Jonathan Meador

The CEO of one of the companies behind the Bluegrass Natural Gas Liquids pipeline says a lack of customer interest has led backers to halt the controversial project.

Stan Horton with Boardwalk Pipeline Partners says his company, along with Williams Co., is still having discussions with potential liquid natural gas customers.

“The Bluegrass and Moss Lake projects are not dead. We are no longer funding any capital for those projects, but the joint venture between us and Williams is still in place,” said Horton.

Horton spoke on a conference call with investors Monday morning.

The Bluegrass Pipeline project had drawn heavy opposition from environmental groups and some residents in the path of the project. It also sparked a debate in the state legislature concerning the rights of private companies to use eminent domain.

A Woodford County woman who represents several groups opposed to the Bluegrass Pipeline says while she’s happy about Monday’s announcement, the need for new laws related to eminent domain continues.

“Absolutely, and we also know there’s a continued threat from fracking and infrastructure in Kentucky. We know that that is not going away just because the Bluegrass Pipeline is tabled for now," Corlia Logsdon told WKU Public Radio.

Logsdon, whose home and property would have been affected by the pipeline project, she says she plans to continue lobbying lawmakers and other state government agencies for stronger property rights laws that would protect landowners if the companies behind the Bluegrass Pipeline resurrect the project.

She says activists will try to rally support from fiscal courts and planning and zoning committees throughout the commonwealth.

“We’re going to turn on focus on working on those (groups), to try to ensure that if and when it does occur in the future, that Kentuckians won’t be subjected inappropriately to the powers of eminent domain by a company that is not in public service.”

The pipeline was supposed to connect natural gas producers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia with export centers on the Gulf Coast. One proposed pathway of the pipeline would have cut through Hardin, Larue, Meade, Nelson, and Breckenridge counties.

The award-winning news team at WKU Public Radio consists of Dan Modlin, Kevin Willis, Lisa Autry, and Joe Corcoran.
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