Evening star., 1946-11-25
Pipelines Could Haul
AIS Million Feel oi Gas
A Day, Texan Tesiifies|
BY Don S. Warren

demands iOr Ifle lHlmeuldtG duU
permanent use of the Big Inch and
Little. Big Inch pipe lines for the
transmission OF natural gas to the
central and East Coast areas were
made today before the House Sur
plus Property COMMITTEES.
Claude a. Williams, president OF
the Trans Continental Gas Pipe
Line Co. Inc, Of Texas, told the
investigating group that $4,000, ,000
cubic feet Of natural gas q day
could be pushed through the war
built pipes within three weeks after
authority was granted. This guam
uty, he said, could be stepped up
rapidly SO that within month and
q hall the lines could be carrying
1S0, 900 900 cubic feet day. He
said this was the equivalent OF
$500 tons OF coal.
Mr.. Williams argued that natural
gas use of the Government lines
would cause no economic disaster
and estimated that when the pipes
were used to full capacity they
would carry to the East 425, ,000, ,00C
cubic feet a day, which would dis
place about 8 per cent Of the coal
consumed in the New York, Phila-
delphia and Newark areas.
The investigating committee plans
to 60 in detail into the possible
interim use of the lines for natural
gas transmission at this afternoons S
session, with the thought it might
ease Eastern hardships resulting
from the coal strike. The principal
witness this afternoon was to be
Gordon Symonds of Houston, pres
ident of the Tennessee Gas g.
Transmission Co., which operates a
private pipe line from Corpus
Christi to Charleston, w. Va.
Seeks Outright Purchase.
Mr.. Williams outlined the bid his
company had made for outright
purchase OF the two lines for gas
transmission. He said the bid called
for payment to the Government of
$85, ,000, 900 in cash. This, he added,
contemplated no Government f.
and no sale Of securities to
the public generally. He contended
it constituted the highest in1rnedi-
ate cash return to the Government
under any Of the 16 bids received
by the War Assets Administration,
all of which were suddenly can
celed last week.
Mr.. Williams put down as pure
romance" the arguments before the
committee by bidders represents
tives in favor Of using the pipe lines
for oil. He said his check of the
independent oil companies showed
they did not have enough oil for
ira 7smission through the lines.
Further, he said, some Of the other
bids contemplated sale of securities
to the public. The Government has
q moral responsibility, he con-
tended, where widows and or
phans" and others knowing nothing
about the gas-oil businesses would
be asked to invest in highly specu-
lative securities. A city the size Of
Washington If dependent upon
straight natural gas, he estimated,
would need a supply of about l00.-
000, 900 cubic feet per day.
Points to Philadelphia.
Mr.. Williams told the committee
he was not worried over a state
ment that Pennsylvania would never
permit transmission Of gas across
that State. Such warning was
fsxited last week bye Representative
waiter, Democrat, of Pennsylvania,
The witness said Pennsylvania has
restricted use of the big lines to
petroleum or petroleum products
and argued that though natural gas
Is not a by-product Of oil, it was
q petroleum product"
Opposition to the use of the lines
for natural gas, he said, comes from
coal mining interests. Philadelphia
has 100000 residents, "and not
one Of them is q coal miner" he
said in assessing possibilities of re-
fusal of permits for sending nat
ural gas there,