Stuart Gas Recipient Of PHMSA Grant

O'Neill high school Prom royalty - (l-r): Carter Hickey, Landon Classen, Kyler Dean, Brady Brown, King Salvador Rodriguez, Queen Emma Smith, Ava Chohon, Kiley Laible, Sydney Young and Harley Cahoy.

The Village of Stuart has been informed that they successfully acquired a grant to improve their natural gas system from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

On April 4, Shakira Mack, director of the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant Program, notified Rick Shearer, Stuart Gas Foreman, that his grant application was one of 37 nationwide that would be receiving awards. A presentation ceremony was held on April 14 at the Nebraska State Capital in Lincoln.

The $216,662 grant will be used over three years to improve all three natural areas served by Stuart Gas. These areas include the original Village of Stuart system, the rural irrigation area northwest of Stuart, and the Shamrock Gas system, located east and north of O'Neill.

A primary focus of the grant, which was only made available to publicly owned gas systems, is reducing methane emissions from natural gas leaks, both a safety and environmental concern.

Through an analysis of the leak history and material integrity of the various gas sections, a targeted list of projects was developed to achieve the highest level of system safety and minimalize the adverse environmental impact in the future.

The following projects are listed in the order of importance to the Village of Stuart's goal of the safe delivery of natural gas to their citizens and customers, protecting the environment and climate by remediating leak-prone pipelines and creating good-paying jobs:

1. Replacement of aging PVC pipe in Shamrock Gas System east of O'Neill.

2. Installation of valves within the Stuart Village system.

3. Addition of GPS Locating/Mapping of Natural Gas System.

4. Add an Automated Monitoring Information System for 24-hour monitoring of all Stuart/O'Neill gas system segments.

5. Create good-paying jobs for employees to manage, maintain and test the natural gas system utilizing technology-based systems and equipment.

"These system upgrades simply were not in the budget previously, but thanks to the PHMSA grant, these goals will be realized over the next three years," said Shearer, " I would also like to personally thank my wife Terri, for all of her computer help, and Judy Peterson, director of the Central Nebraska Economic Development District, for her many hours of assistance in putting this grant application together and getting it submitted properly and on time."

For questions or further information regarding Stuart Gas or this grant, please contact Rick Shearer, Stuart Gas Foreman, at 402-340-4591 or rijsir79@gmail.com.

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