close

Energy company to fund Greene County water upgrade

By Eric Morris emorris@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority (SPWA) has teamed with a natural gas company to improve water infrastructure in Greene County.

The SPWA and Vantage Energy announced last week a $30 million partnership agreement to expand the SPWA’s water treatment plant and distribution center in Cumberland Township that supplies water to parts of Greene, Fayette and Washington counties.

The Colorado-based Vantage and its midstream subsidiary, Vista Gathering, will cover the cost of the expansion project, as well as the extension of several water pipelines in the county.

SPWA manager Jack Golding said the upgrade will allow the authority to provide stabilized water rates and water access to areas where it was previously unavailable. It is also expected to curb heavy truck traffic from energy companies hauling water on state and township roads.

“This important partnership is truly a win-win for the entire region,” said Golding. “Working together, these efforts will help improve water access and delivery services to underserved communities, while also reducing truck traffic.”

The expansion will increase the treatment plant’s capacity from 9.2 million to 16.1 million gallons per day.

The project also includes the extension of a 24-inch water transmission line along State Route 18 from West Waynesburg to Nineveh and the replacement of 16-inch water lines along state routes 188 and 221.

The anticipated completion date is July 2017, Golding said.

Sourcing its water from the Monongahela River, the SPWA supplies about 13,500 residential, commercial and industrial customers. It is the sole provider of public water to Greene County and serves about one-third of Fayette County, as well as several municipalities in southern Washington County.

Golding said the plant expansion and line extension will allow Vantage to save on trucking costs associated with hauling water and to forgo installing private water lines.

“This way they can get water closer to their sites with less trucking,” he said. “There will be pipes running directly to their sites, in some cases.”

Golding said the agreement will give Vantage preferential treatment among oil and gas companies to the access of surplus water once the needs of the authority’s customers has been met.

Vantage will be reimbursed for its investment through the receipt of revenue generated by a surcharge on water sales to oil and gas companies. Golding said Vantage will receive a portion of the surcharge — which previously went to the SPWA — for 10 years, but that the authority has no obligation to repay Vantage for construction costs.

“If no water is sold to the oil and gas companies, Vantage gets nothing,” Golding said.

Vantage Energy holds about 48,000 net acres in Greene County.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today