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The nation's pipeline-building boom began taking shape some seven years ago, when wintertime gas shortages were commonplace and crude-oil prices had skyrocketed. With the start of phased natural gas deregulation under the Carter Administration in 1978 and the subsequent creeping rise in price, the industry experienced a boom in exploration and drilling activity. Investment in large-scale pipeline development naturally followed close behind.
The immediate question the companies now face is whether there will be enough demand by consumers for the gas. The sagging U.S. economy, combined with falling oil prices and increasing energy conservation by consumers and industry alike, has created an unexpected glut that is dampening sales. Even so, gas executives remain optimistic. Says George Morrow, president of Natural Gas Pipeline, which is managing partner for the project: "We are looking long term, at markets ten years and more down the road. A future shortage of domestic energy is inevitable, and I am bullish on gas. All is hardly gloom and doom." Observes Anthony Sousa, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: "The nation is currently experiencing a surplus of natural gas, but that surplus may prove temporary."
So far, construction of the pipelines has apparently had little negative impact on the environment, partly because the pipeline companies have gone out of their way to avoid criticism from ecological watchdogs. For example, to protect the prairie habitat of the rarely seen black-footed ferret, Northern Border engineers enforced a 15-mile "construction constraint" along one stretch of the line in the Dakotas in order to loop around certain prairie-dog towns, which the ferrets raid for prey. The company also held up work in several other sections for two weeks to avoid interfering with the nesting habits of prairie falcons.
Teams of company-hired archaeologists additionally spent a total of 16 months surveying Northern Border's entire right of way to locate areas of historical or archaeological significance. Some 171 such sites were identified, ranging from an ancient Dakota Indian camp to the remains of sod huts built by early white settlers. Minor reroutes were made to skirt the most important sites.
The companies have taken care to see that once a section of pipeline is completed and buried, typically to a minimum depth of 42 in., the surface is reseeded and restored for use as range or cropland the following season. Maintenance teams will be permanently based along the lines to inspect them periodically and guard against soil erosion by practicing terracing and other soil-conservation techniques. Says Robert Landers, a construction supervisor on the Trailblazer project: "We bury and hide our pipe with about the same care the Egyptians took in burying their pharaohs." Now the only thing the pipeline companies have to worry about is whether consumers can be counted on to buy up the prodigious amounts of fuel soon to be flowing silently eastward below ground. —By Guy D. Garcia. Reported by Lee Griggs/Omaha