The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1960-11-24
Gas Storage

| county. This gas starts through
generally parallel 26-inch pipe
lines, headed for the Washington
Baltimore area. In winter months
the lines have operated at prac-
tically full capacity to supply
these and other cities. But when
demand fell off in summer months,
the lines operated at much less
than capacity.
BY putting Terra Alta into oper-
alton, Atlantic is able to keep its
big 26-inch lines busy through the
summer, delivering gas all the
way to Seneca and then through
the 2O-inch lateral line into I'M
foreground storage.
This puts a supply of gas much
closer to the markets ready for
delivery when demand hits its
peaks in winter
The press tour got under way
about II o'clock Several officials
of the company briefed the news
men on what they were to see in
the several buildings Carl K. Gil
christ, assistant vice president and
director of information, Charles
ton, w. Va; Paul O. Hamer, COM
I pressor division superintendent,
Elkins, and H. c. Mefford, Jr.,
storage division superintendent,
Elkins, were in charge of this
phase.
Groups of seven or eight were
! taken through the installation con-
Guiding in the new home of the
supervisory engineer of the Terra
Alta compressor station, where a
, box lunch was served. The box
lunch" turned out to be a full
dinner with chicken, ham, cheese,
tuna fish, salad, rolls, cake and
either coffee or hot chocolate.
Following the official close of
the tour there were helicopter
flights over the area, showing the
network of pipelines to the stor-
/ age wells and other outlying in
stal;ations Four helicopters are
used regularly to inspect the many
miles of line and check for pos
sible leaks.
Economically the Terra Alta
storage project will help Preston
county and adjoining areas In
vestment is already about $40 mil
lion, including cost of acquiring
the c. and A. Gas company and
Hope Natural Gas company prop
erty. Some of this goes for goods
and services obtained locally.
Eleven full-time employees and
their families will join the COM
nfunity and an annual payroll of
upward of $4,000 will stimulate
local trade.
Annual rentals will be paid to
property owners in the amount
of about S48,7OO.
This entire storage project was
described as something like a
package" project with three diff
ferent operating departments of
Atlantic Seaboard corporation in
volved.
These were listed as production
storage, compressor, and trans
mission. In the first phase work
men reconditioned 81 depleted
wells and stimulated the forma-
ton $500 feet deep to speed up
the rate of injection and with
drawal.
The second phase supervised
construction of the compressor
station. The third phase was the
laying of the 43-mile 20-inch pipe
line from Mouth of Seneca in
Pendleton county to Terra Alta.
The line crossed some of the high
est, most rugged mountains in
West Virginia.
The recent developments at
Terra Alta are typical of what has
happened several times in the gas
industry in the last Is years. There
was the discovery of gas, the
drilling activity, the gradual de-
cline of the field and exhaustion
of the supply. Now these aban-
doned fields have been converted
to underground storage pools.
With each passing winter Gus
toners to the east require more
and more natural gas to meet
heating demands. This storage in
summer has made it possible to
provide more gas when it is
needed during the winter, because
it is closer to the market and
can be obtained quickly.
The major portion of the gas
now going into the storage area
at Terra Alta comes from Texas
and Louisiana with some coming
from West Virginia and Kentucky
Terra Alta is the newest of these
storage fields and includes a tract
of some 10000 acres. 1t will be
ahIn to daliunr this M,inter. IN to