Utopia Pipeline Projects

SWCA has provided environmental support services for Kinder Morgan’s Utopia Pipeline Project since 2014. SWCA conducted all field surveys required to obtain project approval and prepared permit packages to satisfy all regulatory requirements. Pre-construction services included:

• delineation of more than 300 wetlands and other waters of the U.S
• Phase I/II cultural resources survey, artifact analysis and curation, and mitigation
• threatened and endangered species habitat assessments and presence/absence surveys (e.g., eastern Massasauga rattlesnake, eastern prairie fringed orchid, and mussels), including bat mist-netting
• water quality certification, water withdrawal and discharge, and flowage easement authorization
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act compliance and pre-construction clearance and monitoring
  air quality permitting
• site-specific plans and reports (e.g., plans of development, Agricultural Impact Mitigation Plan, USACE boring/avoidance plans, tree-clearing [bat] and mussel/snake plans for the USFWS).
• Project permitting including two USACE NWP 12 permits; five Section 10 permits for crossing of the Maumee, Sandusky, and Tuscarawas Rivers; and a 401 Water Quality Certification through Ohio EPA (OEPA).

SWCA also provided environmental inspection throughout construction of the project, including agricultural inspection on multiple spreads, water well sampling, floodplain permitting, stormwater permitting/inspections, and environmental project management.
Through our work on the Utopia project, SWCA developed a deep understanding of the Utopia Project and KM’s objectives, including agency concerns (in particular, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE], Ohio State Historic Preservation Office [OHPO], and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]) and landowner concerns, including agricultural sensitivities.