WICHITA, KAN. (AP) — An Oklahoma-based energy company is seeking approval for a pipeline that would carry volatile gas liquids through the Kansas county that is home to Wichita.
Williams Companies Inc. met with Sedgwick County officials Wednesday about the 187-mile (300-kilometer) Bluestem pipeline that would run from McPherson County, Kansas, to Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, the Wichita Eagle reported.
The line would carry pressurized gas liquids, such as propane and butane, across mostly farmland in Sedgwick County, according to pipeline officials. But the plans also call for the line to pass through the city of Cheney.
Sedgwick County officials would need to issue permits for the Bluestem pipeline to cross county roads.
Williams Companies contractor Jay Vincent told county commissioners that the pipeline would carry 225,000 barrels a day of pressurized gas liquids, which he said are byproducts of natural gas production.
The volatile liquids would be separated from natural gas at the company's plant in Conway. The proposed pipeline would connect the Kansas plant to the Targa Grand Prix pipeline in Oklahoma, so that the liquids could move to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.
Vincent said the liquids are typically safer than an oil pipeline and don't pose a threat to groundwater.
The pipeline would also be frequently inspected and protected by a cathodic system that uses a weak electrical current to prevent metal corrosion, Vincent said.
The company hopes to obtain permits along the pipeline route by January and to complete construction in November 2020.
