- The proposed Dearborn County Lateral is a 12-mile interstate natural gas pipeline that would cross 2.9 miles of Boone County en route from Indiana to Ohio.
- Petersburg residents raised concerns about potential impacts to private wells, groundwater, the Ohio River and emergency response capabilities if the pipeline were to rupture.
- The project is under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with an environmental scoping comment period open through July 27 and construction, if approved, not expected to begin until 2027.
A project to build a natural gas pipeline from Indiana into northwestern Boone County is raising eyebrows among residents and the fiscal court.
The Dearborn County Lateral Project is a proposed 12-mile interstate natural gas pipeline from Texas Gas Transmission, an Owensboro-based subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines.
Although the proposed pipeline would be primarily located in Indiana, planning documents indicate it will cross the Ohio River into Boone County, just north of Petersburg. In total, 2.9 miles of pipeline would be entirely within Kentucky.
Irving, Texas-based Vistra Corp, which owns the Miami Fort Power Plant in Hamilton County, Ohio, wants the 20-inch-diameter pipeline to support regional energy infrastructure during the plant’s transition from coal to natural gas. The proposed pipeline would connect to Texas Gas Transmission’s existing 26-inch-diameter Mainline Pipeline in Dearborn County.
In addition to the pipeline, Texas Gas Transmission plans to build supporting infrastructure, including a new measurement and flow-control station, connections to the existing pipeline, and additional facilities for pipeline inspection and maintenance.
If completed, the pipeline would provide up to 265,000 dekatherms–a unit of measurement used in the natural gas industry–of natural gas transportation capacity per day to the power plant, according to the project’s webpage.
During the Boone County Fiscal Court meeting on July 14, Petersburg resident Penny Morris raised concerns about the project, particularly its potential impacts on private wells and groundwater, which are important sources of drinking water for area residents.
“Although the pipeline may not cross my property, it has the potential to affect my community; Petersburg residents depend on the Ohio River and local groundwater resources, and many households rely on private wells for their drinking water,” Morris said.
Furthermore, Morris requested that county officials assess how the pipeline could affect emergency response resources in the event of a rupture or explosion. Petersburg is served by the Petersburg Fire Protection District.
In response, Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore validated her concerns and questioned the need for the pipeline to venture into Kentucky.
“We have similar concerns, and so what we have here is a pipeline that’s going to enter and exit Boone County, but there’s no benefit to Boone County,” Moore said. “It’s coming from Indiana and finishing in Ohio, but it loops through.”
Texas Gas Transmission began reaching out to affected landowners and other stakeholders in the second quarter of 2025 – a process that remains ongoing. Texas Gas Transmission filed its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission application on May 29, with the agency issuing its official ‘Notice of Application’ on June 12, initiating the federal review process.
A timeline published on Boardwalk Pipeline’s website indicates that the project is expected to remain under federal review until early 2027. If approved, construction would begin in the spring of 2027 and continue through the spring of 2028.
As part of the review process, the FERC is conducting an environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, which includes opportunities for public comment and review of environmental impacts.
Boone County Engineer Rob Franxman said that county staff submitted comments to the FERC, raising concerns similar to those of Morris, including questions about the pipeline’s routing and environmental impact. Moreover, Franxman emphasized that Boone County does not support the eminent domain of private lands for the completion of the project.
“The last concern, as Judge said, was regarding eminent domain and the fact that we, the court themselves, aren’t in agreement with eminent domain and would not be supportive of any functions for eminent domain for the completion of the pipeline,” Franxman said.
Moore reported that a Petersburg landowner had already denied a project surveyor access to his property.
Boone County Commissioner Chet Hand proposed a motion, which the fiscal court supported, requesting that county staff draft a formal letter to federal representatives and regulators opposing the pipeline’s foray into Kentucky.
“Any pressure we can apply – maybe it moves a needle, maybe it doesn’t,” Hand said. “I agree with the fact that it doesn’t benefit Boone County at all.”
Morris said she and her neighbors are preparing to organize in response to the project.
“We are prepared to take and put letters to the U.S. and put it to any representatives and districts that we have to go through to voice our concerns, because this directly affects us as residents, and a lot of us residents, unless it was the people who were going to be directly affected by the pipeline, we got no notification of anything,” she said.
The deadline for the FERC’s environmental scoping comment period is July 27 at 5 p.m.
