BUCKINGHAM — Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) LLC has purchased 147 acres of property in Buckingham County to potentially build a 40,000 horsepower gas-fired compressor station.

Though the ACP has purchased the heavily wooded tract and believes it to be a suitable site, “we have not determined if we would build the compressor station on this location,” according to Dominion’s Jim Norvelle.

ACP recently purchased the land for $225,000 from KWP LLC, which has a Vienna, Virginia mailing address, according to county land records. The property is located south of Route 56 between Midland, Forest Clay and Texas School roads, according to Buckingham’s Geographic Information System. The site is not in the path of the proposed pipeline.

A monthly status report filed recently with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cites a purchase option agreement has been executed for the station.

Aerial maps show the Transcontinental Pipeline — which the ACP plans on intersecting with to build the compressor station — running through the tract of land.

Dominion is the lead partner of a joint venture seeking federal approval of the 42-inch natural gas pipeline that would travel from West Virginia to North Carolina, crossing Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward counties. ACP has filed numerous civil suits in Buckingham to gain access to survey property.

“In general, natural gas pipeline companies purchase large parcels of land for compressor stations so that there is a natural buffer around a proposed compressor station location. Natural gas companies also need large parcels of land to serve as lay down yards for the pipeline and construction-related equipment,” Norvelle said.

The closest homes and structures around the property are south and northeast of the tract.

When asked to elaborate on the recently announced compressor station property purchase agreement and the purpose of the purchased property, Norvelle reiterated that a location has not been chosen for the station and “when natural gas companies purchase land for compressor stations, they usually purchase enough land to accommodate both the compressor station and provide a visual buffer.”
According to a previously filed draft report, construction of the compressor station — which is proposed to have four turbines rather than three as originally planned — would begin in April 2017 and conclude over one year in November 2018.

“In between December and now, we have determined that … we needed to add some compression …,” Norvelle said in an earlier interview.
Dominion previously said the natural gas-fired station would have an estimated 31,515 horsepower.

According to FERC, the noise attributable to a new compressor station must not exceed a day-night average noise level of 55 decibels at any pre-existing noise-sensitive areas such as homes, schools or hospitals.

Last week, the ACP announced the adoption of the Wingina route variation as the pipeline’s proposed route — a change that moves the pipeline closer to the Yogaville community in northwestern Buckingham.