Leach Xpress Project Gaining Steam

Progress continues Monday for the Leach Xpress Project which will create a 125.7 mile natural gas transmission pipeline across Southeast Ohio.

The Columbia Pipeline Group wants to start construction on the pipeline by Fall of 2016. Monday, Community Relations Manager for CPG, Zane Daniels, met with Muskingum County Commissioners. The pipeline would cross through nine miles and 15 properties in the southern part of Muskingum County.

“What we found is there’s a lot of potential to produce a lot of oil and gas in the eastern part of Ohio, but we need more infrastructure to get that locally produced gas to regional markets throughout the United States where it can be consumed,” Daniels said.

According to a study performed by Kleinhenz & Associates, the completed pipeline will increase annual property taxes by roughly $2.2 million in Muskingum County, and with 2017 being the key construction year, Daniels said nearly 4,000 temporary construction jobs will be added in Ohio.

“One thing that’s important to remember is, all construction jobs are temporary,” Daniels said. “That’s the way that construction workers make a living, and I think it’s important that we don’t discredit that or discount that. These are important jobs for them, these are important jobs for the community and the state of Ohio.”

Daniels said all the labor will be sourced locally. One of the unions that CPG is working with is Zanesville Labors International Union 530.