Ground broken on new natural gas pipeline for John Nash Boulevard

Workers with a pipeline contractor were moving dirt already Thursday when a groundbreaking ceremony officially kicked off a project that will carry natural gas to the Cumberland Industrial Park and all along John Nash Boulevard.

Local dignitaries and U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., met at the Bluefield Area Transit Authority’s headquarters near Exit 1 of Interstate 77 for the new natural gas pipeline’s groundbreaking ceremony. The pipeline, extending around 5.5 miles along John Nash Boulevard, will supply the Cumberland Industrial Park, future business ventures and residents with natural gas.

The project is being funded with over $2.9 million secured by Capito along with $2 million approved by Gov. Jim Justice and $1 million provided by the Mercer County Commission through American Rescue Plan funding.

“We’re here today to celebrate another exciting economic development event for Mercer County and the entire region,” said John O’Neal, executive director of the Mercer County Economic Development Authority. “This gas line project will serve dozens of businesses and residences. It will support hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in Mercer County. We could not have made it to this point without the help of Senator Capito, Governor Justice, and the Mercer County Commission who all contributed funds to the project.”

Capito, who serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) and Appropriations Committees, said she secured the almost $2.9 million in 2021 with the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) awards. She said during Thursday’s ceremony that this money did not add to the nation’s debt.

“The $2.89 million was what’s called Congressional Directed Spending,” Capito said. “Let me explain a little about what the means now. It used to be called an earmark. It would be where members of the House or Senate could go into the appropriations bill and actually put our fingers on certain pots of money to say this gas line extension is something we need for economic development and the creation of jobs in the state where I live and the communities where we live.”

Capito added that many individuals and organizations worked to make the pipeline project a reality. The office of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., the governor’s office and local elected officials contributed to the effort.

“You can’t do these things by yourself,” she said. “You really can’t, and so I’m really happy that I’m a part of it.”

For years, the lack of natural gas has hindered growth at the industrial park. Frank Brady, chairman of the Mercer County Economic Development Authority, said that when the project is finished, “our industrial park down at the end of John Nash will be up running with the latest bells and whistles, the broadband, the gas and so on.”

“This is really exciting for us,” Brady said. “Just to give you an idea, some of you will remember, about seven years ago, we started on this project. When we began looking at it, we thought we were looking at what was going to be about $2 million to run that pipeline out. As we’re now with shovels in the ground finally, it’s considerably more. I tell people that development work is sometimes like pushing a peanut uphill with your nose. It just seems to take so long and all the variables, but this is really exciting for us and for the board, because it has been a topic of conversation for so long.”

Mercer County Commission President Bill Archer, who attended with Commissioners Gene Buckner and Greg Puckett, said the project is another step forward in the county.

“The thing I would say is we are looking forward to completing this project because soon the folks out here on John Nash Boulevard and the folks all the way out there will be cooking with gas and I think that’s a really big step for us as a community,” Archer said.

The contractors Cober, Johnson & Romney, Thrasher Engineering and Buckeye Pipeline are woking on the project.

“We really appreciate being here,” said Harold Johnson with Cober Johnson & Romney. “We see this as a nexus towards community reinvestment and bringing something that not only the community needs, but the business community needs, too, in the growth of the industrial park which we believe can be an outstanding development park in the state of West Virginia.”

Jordan Maynor, CEO of Maynor Consulting, which is a contractor with the development authority, later said the pipeline project was originally scheduled to be finished by the end of 2024, but it has been extended to June of 2025.