Union Gas hosted a tour in Wallaceburg to show community members and officials from Chatham-Kent and Windsor the progress of its Panhandle pipeline project.
The tour was held at the Panhandle Reinforcement Project site in Wallaceburg on Wednesday. Elected representatives, municipal employees, and community officials from Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex, and Lambton area were in attendance.
Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire says the $250-million pipeline, which will run from the Union Gas Dawn Hub in the township of Dawn-Euphemia and the Dover Transmission Station on Town Line Rd. in Chatham-Kent, is approximately 50% complete.
"It's really impressive. It's approximately 40 km long and it basically is going to open up in a huge way natural gas availability and capacity in those three regions across Southwestern Ontario," explains Shropshire.
Shropshire says the expansion of the pipeline will greatly benefit local communities.
"We've heard a lot from local folks, business people, and folks working in the [agriculture] industry [about] how much they need natural gas to expand their current operations or grow their businesses. They need an affordable cheap source of energy and natural gas is fitting the bill," says Shropshire.
The pipeline is expected to be completed sometime in November.