Town of Kensington Is Location of Gas Processing Plant

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The tiny town of Kensington in Columbiana County's Hanover Township is the location of the huge natural gas processing plant that Chesapeake Energy Corp. and its partners plan to build, The Business Journal has confirmed.

The site of the project, called the Kensington Plant, is plotted on a map posted on the website of M3 Midstream LLC, which does business as Momentum.

Momentum is a 33% partner in the $900 million joint venture announced late Tuesday by Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The Houston-based Momentum will design and build the Kensington processing plant as well as the Harrison County fractionation plant, and the loading and terminal facilities there. “Our role is to build and operate the two plants that ultimately will be constructed,” George Passela, executive vice president and chief financial officer of M3 Midstream tells The Business Journal. “Chesapeake is the owner and operator of the reserves behind the plant. They will be drilling the wells, they will be bringing the gas to the system.”

Passela reports negotiations are underway with landowners in the Kensington area and in Harrison County. Kensington sits on the western border of Columbiana, a stone’s throw from the Carroll County line.

“The status of the project is that it’s currently on the drawing board only," he emphasizes. "The necessary permits, while they are in process, have yet to be obtained, the rights of way and land purchases necessary to site the plants and build the pipeline have not been obtained.”

Still, the second-quarter 2013 deadline to begin operations at the plants is feasible, he says.

“This is a very large project that will create thousands of jobs and will be a real boom to Ohio,” Passela says.

Economic development and government officials in Columbiana County learned of the project a few weeks ago but were asked to maintain confidentiality, they say.

For more on how business in the region stands to benefit, read the story Thursday morning at BusinessJournalDaily.com.

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Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.