The pipeline would start south of Meredosia and goes east, moves along Route 67 until it diverges off the highway near the Bethel-Chapin area, moves east through the Jacksonville Airport area and cuts across Route 78 to the storage site near Route 123 and Beilschmidt Road.

Eighty-six landowners will be affected directly by the pipeline, and FutureGen has been negotiating easements with them. The submittal of a storage permit should be submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission in the next couple of weeks.

The pipeline will be a ten-inch or twelve-inch diameter line, compared to the Rocky Mountain Express high-pressure natural gas line that recently passed through Morgan County, which is 42 inches in diameter.

FutureGen says the depth of the pipeline will protect it from farming activities and typical excavations. The minimum burial depth is four feet, but on agricultural land, it’s required that the pipeline is at least five feet deep.