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FERC schedules review for Texas Eastern’s mining detour
The gas pipeline company wants to keep service moving in Greene County, Pennsylvania, while longwall mining continues below. The environmental assessment is due Nov. 13, 2026, with a federal authorization deadline set for Feb. 11, 2027.
Texas Eastern Transmission wants federal permission to reroute parts of its pipeline in Greene County, Pennsylvania, so gas service can keep flowing while underground coal mining passes below. FERC has started its environmental review of the project, and an environmental assessment is due Nov. 13, 2026.
Comment deadline: February 11, 2027 Submit comments: https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview Effective date: November 13, 2026
For people who live near the work and the customers who rely on the pipeline, the issue is not expansion. It is whether an existing gas network can stay in service while the ground below it is mined in long, continuous panels.
Keeping the line above the coal
Texas Eastern filed its application on March 23, 2026, seeking a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity under Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act. The project is called the Longwall Mining Panel M2 and M3 Project, and it would allow the company to modify certain natural gas pipeline facilities in Greene County.
The plan covers segments of four existing pipelines near Graysville. Texas Eastern says the work would involve pipeline sections ranging from about 5,000 feet to 6,100 feet, plus the removal of an approximately 5,000-foot segment that is no longer operating. It would also modify some smaller aboveground facilities elsewhere in the county, then return three of the four pipelines to their original locations and easements after mining is done. The fourth would be shifted into the abandoned easement.
Longwall mining is an underground method that removes coal in long panels. In this case, the pipeline work is meant to let the gas system keep operating while that mining moves through the area.
A date on the calendar
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, issued its Notice of Application on May 12, 2026, and now says staff intends to prepare an environmental assessment for the project. That assessment is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2026.
That schedule also starts a 90-day federal authorization deadline that lands on Feb. 11, 2027. If the timetable changes, the commission says it will issue another notice so the agencies involved stay informed.
Agency: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Docket ID: CP26-148-000 CFR parts: 2.1 Comment deadline: February 11, 2027 Effective date: November 13, 2026 Submit comments: https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview Contact: (202)502-6595 • OPP@ferc.gov