COLUMBIA GAS PROPOSED TRANSMISSION LINE:
WHAT WE KNOW
July 2025: Rathbone Avenue residents/property owners received a letter from Columbia Gas of Ohio saying it was a formal notification that they would be entering in and around properties for the purpose of conducting surveys and examinations for future proposed infrastructure upgrade work within the surrounding community, consisting of wetland and stream delineation and protected species habitat surveys.
September/October 2025: Rathbone residents received a September letter from Columbia Gas of Ohio announcing a Public Informational Meeting on October 1 about future plans for the proposed Woodward Park North Columbus High Pressure (NCHP) Pipeline Project. It advised that the project involves replacing existing gas lines in the Woodward Park area by installing approximately 5.3 miles of new 20-inch diameter steel natural gas pipeline, along with above-ground natural gas infrastructure, to support the central Ohio system and that it is needed in order to comply with federal pipeline requirements and replace aging infrastructure. It is called the “Woodward Park” pipeline project because the proposed pipeline starts in the Woodward Park neighborhood (Morse Rd./Karl Rd. vicinity) then goes west along Morse Rd., crosses N. High St., continues down Rathbone, goes under the river, then out Bethel Rd. to Postlewaite Rd. A general description of the project is available on the Columbia Gas of Ohio website at: ColumbiaGasOhio.com/Woodward-Park-NCHP.
Installation of a similar gas pipeline was completed in June 2025 on E. Tulane Rd. in south Clintonville from N. High St. to Summit St. as part of the Central Columbus NCHP Pipeline project, and another one is currently underway in Upper Arlington in the North Star Rd./Ridgeview Rd. vicinity as part of the West Central NCHP Pipeline project. All of these infrastructure upgrades are intended to comply with federal mandates that require Columbia Gas to reconfirm the maximum allowable operating pressure of older pipelines and facilities installed before July 1, 2020 that are in certain class locations or high consequence areas and do not have available certain traceable, verifiable, and complete records, such as material attributes and sufficient pressure test records.
The September letter to Rathbone residents was sent as part of the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) process, the state regulatory body that has to approve Columbia Gas’s application to construct this pipeline. One requirement of the process is for the applicant (Columbia Gas) to host two public informational meetings prior to submitting their application for approval. At the first informational meeting, which was the October 1 meeting, the applicant was required to notify the public and solicit input on the scope of the proposed project. During the second meeting, which must occur not more than 90 days prior to filing the application, the applicant must present the project to the public as it will be presented in the application. Since the October 1 meeting was the “planning stages” meeting it may have accounted for some of the differences in responses received by attendees about various aspects of the project. The second meeting is supposed to present the project in a manner consistent with the application that will actually be submitted.
November 2025: The September letter had originally said that Columbia Gas would collect feedback from the community at the October 1 meeting and then planned to host the second meeting before the end of 2025, and they had originally planned to file their application for approval sometime in December 2025. However, on November 12, Leah Lewis (Columbia Gas Public Affairs Project Specialist) said in an email that they had decided to briefly pause their filing with the OPSB in order to further consider community feedback and next steps, and that in early 2026 they will host several community meetings to share additional information. They will send out a letter as they did in the past advising of the meeting date, location, and time when those details are finalized.
As part of Columbia Gas’s proposed project they had requested a zoning variance from the Clintonville Area Commission (CAC) in order to install a natural gas metering station at the northeast corner of Morse Rd. and Indianola Ave. where there is currently an office building. This would have involved demolishing the office building and installing an above ground facility (this would have been the “above-ground natural gas infrastructure” referenced in the September Columbia Gas letter). The matter was first brought to the CAC Zoning and Variance Committee at the end of October, where according to the Columbus Dispatch it was unanimously voted down due to lack of detail and concerns about the use of that location for that purpose. The matter was still on the full CAC agenda on November 6, and Leah Lewis who was in attendance asked that it be pulled from the agenda, saying they wanted to postpone, but the CAC denied the request to table the matter and voted against it 7-0-1. A CAC member suggested that Columbia Gas withdraw its application and Leah Lewis advised that Columbia Gas was considering an alternative location and would provide an update in the future. (It should be noted that the CAC in 2024 voted unanimously in favor of several variances requested by Columbia Gas related to the Central Columbus NCHP Pipeline project involving Tulane Rd. and Weber Rd.)
HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE PROPOSED GAS LINE
Columbia Gas needs to receive approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) in order to move forward with their plan. The steps below are for accessing the OPSB website in order to submit a public comment.
In the upper right corner search box for Case Lookup enter the case number for the proposed gas line which is 25-0838-GA-BTX, then click the magnifying glass to access the Case Record page.
On the Case Record page there are tabs for Case Documents and Public Comments. To view previously filed public comments click on the Public Comments tab, you will see them listed and can read them by clicking on the Date Filed for the comment and then View Document.
To file your comment, click File a Public Comment on the upper right side of the page. On the next page there are boxes to fill in information and you can either file anonymously or provide your contact name and email. Type your comment in the bottom box where it says Description of Comment, then click Submit.
After Columbia Gas submits their application for approval, as part of the process there will be a public hearing. You can request notification of the hearing by using one of these methods: 1) create an account and subscribe to receive updates each time a new document is added to the Case Record by clicking on “Subscribe and E-file” at dis.puc.state.oh.us/, OR 2) go to OPSB.ohio.gov and provide your email at the bottom of the page where it says “Keep Up to Date” (this option will provide notifications of all upcoming utility-related hearings, it is not case-specific).