Colonial Proposes Knoxville Expansion With New, Larger Line

ATLANTA, Ga. — Colonial Pipeline today proposed a new expansion of service to Knoxville, Tenn., which, when combined with service upgrades now under way, would increase supplies to the East Tennessee market by 65 percent. 

The project, featuring safety and environmental protection enhancements, would include the proposed installation of a new pipeline along side segments of the existing line, primarily in Bradley and McMinn counties. 

Upon completion, expected in the last half of 2003, the Knoxville market would have available daily up to 5.6 million gallons of gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil, diesel fuel and other liquid petroleum products. Currently, Colonial delivers 3.4 million gallons per day to Knoxville, which is a distribution center for East Tennessee and southern Kentucky. 

The proposed Knoxville project represents the next phase of an expansion currently under way that includes the installation of larger pumps and motors at Colonial booster stations to increase the delivery of refined petroleum products via Colonial’s underground pipeline. This initial phase will be completed in August and make approximately 800,000 additional gallons a day available to the Knoxville market. 

“We are excited about partnering with our customers in Knoxville to bring the region a significantly greater supply of gasoline, home heating oil and other liquid petroleum fuels,” said Dave Lemmon, Colonial’s President and CEO. 

“The growth of these markets has been impressive, and Colonial is committed to working with our shippers to meet the region’s energy needs safely and economically.” 

In the proposed project, Colonial would lay approximately 43 miles of 16-inch pipeline within or near existing rights of way that now holds a 10-inch pipeline. Colonial plans to idle that 10-inch line. The new pipeline would stretch from the northern edge of Hamilton County through Bradley County and into northern McMinn County. It will add an estimated 28,000 to 35,000 barrels (maximum 1.4 million gallons) of capacity to the Knoxville market every day. 

This next phase, along with the current phase under way, will help meet the current and anticipated needs in Tennessee. Colonial, which currently has two lines serving Nashville, continues to explore solutions that will meet the current and anticipated energy needs of Middle Tennessee. 

Colonial is headquartered in Atlanta and transports gasoline, home heating oil, jet fuel, diesel fuel and fuels for the military’s use. It’s more than 5,500 miles of underground pipeline extends from Houston to New York and connects Gulf Coast refineries with communities throughout the South and Eastern United States.