Ottawa County news. (Port Clinton, Ohio) 1931-1956, 1953-07-17
Ohio Fuel Builds
More Storage Areas

A million dollar pipeline project
is nearing completion for the Ohio
Fuel Gas Company's sixth under
ground storage area in the state,
it was announced today. The new
area is in Holmes, Ashland and
Wayne counties.
Frank Manley, Port Clinton To-
cal manager, said the project will
increase storage capacity of Ohio
Fuel 80 billion cubic feet.
Almost finished is Is miles Of
20-inch pipeline connecting the
storage area to Ohio FUELS Wea-
yer compressor station in Rich
land county. 1t will transport gas
to and from the storage area. The
Shamrock Construction Co., LanS-
ing, Mich, is building the line.
Ohio Fuel crews are laying
about five miles of smaller lines
to connect wells in the storage
area with the main 20-inch trans
mission line.
Preliminary work to make way
for construction of a new COM
pressor station in the new storage
area has just been completed.
This includes grading of land, in
stallation of the measuring station
and some piping.
Cost of the pipeline project is
estimated at $982,000; prelimin-
ary work at the site of the new
compressor station, $214,95O.
Ohio Fuel is the worlds largest
operator of underground storage
areas for natural gas. 1t is a pio-
neer in this field.
Gas piped here from the south
west will be stored during warm
weather thousands of feet below
the surface of the earth in the
new Holmes Storage Area in ma
tural reservoirs that are now
nearly depleted. It will be with
drawn during winter months.
when the demand is great for gas
to heat homes.
Pressure will be built up during
the summer when demand for gas
are low. A tremendous amount of
gas must be sent down into the
wells as a cushion" to create
pressure.
Mr.. Manley compared this pro.
cess to filling an auto innertube.
Considerable pumping must be
done before the tube is under
pressure.
The"cushioning" process will re-
quire many months. Withdrawing
of gas from the Holmes Storage
Area will be possible within the
next two years.
Gas from Ohio wells supplies
only about 10 per cent of that
used each yea. in the Ohio Fuel
system. The remaining 90 per
cent comes from out of state, most
of it from the southwest.
The company stores gas now ir
five huge underground storage
areas throughout the state for use
in the winter. They are the Wei
lington, Pavonia, Weaver, Knox
and Benton storage areas.
"The sixth underground storage
project is threatened by ar
amendment to a bill passed Fri
day by the House of Representa-
tives,' w. E. Ferguson, vice pres
ident in charge of production and
underground storage, said thi.
week.
The Ferguson-Kinley Bill, which
would give Ohio Fuel the right te
obtain land for storage, wa:
slated for passage by the House
Friday but at the last minute ar
amendment was offered that coult
eliminate any storage of gas with
in 5000 feet of an underground
coal mine or a seam of coal thai
is mineable by underground min
ing methods. With that amend
ment the Bill passed the House.
''The amendment is impractica
and could jeopardize the newes
project in Holmes, Ashland
Wayne Counties, and other ex
pansion of underground storage il
Ohio.
"Ohio FUELS underground stor
age was started in 1886. II ha.
grown from one billion cubic fee
in storage to eighty-seven billion
On coldest days, Ohio gas con
sumers receive more than hal
their gas from underground stor
age.
Because of underground stor
age, Ohio homes get more ga.
than homes in any other state
Any increase in the delivery o.
gas to more people in Ohio de
pendS on further development ant
underground storage" Ferguson