Princeton Releases Transco Pipeline Maps

Princeton officials have agreed to release the maps detailing the precise location of the proposed Transco pipeline expansion, less than a week after residents protested about the documents being kept private. 

Princeton Patch filed an Open Public Records Act request with the Princeton Engineering Department after the meeting and received a written response on Friday. 

The maps are available for inspection in the Engineering Department on the second floor of the Municipal Building between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, wrote Princeton Town Clerk Linda McDermott. 

The Engineering Department has also obtained a second set of maps, so that the public no longer has to schedule a time to view the documents, but may simply walk in and request to view them. The documents are allowed to be photographed. Copying costs will be charged if you would like copies. 

To obtain a hard copy of the full set of maps on file with the Engineering Department, the cost is $27.85, as they must be sent to an outside vendor. 

The  project is a proposed expansion of the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and includes new pipeline facilities, additional compression and facility modifications.

It is anticipated that the project will require construction of approximately 6.36 miles of new 42-inch pipeline or "loop" (new pipeline laid parallel to existing lines) in Montgomery Township and Princeton.

It is designed to increase the Transco pipeline’s capacity by 469,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day (enough to serve about 2 million homes). 

The company hopes to begin construction in Fall 2014 and have the project completed by December 2015.