Contractor quits Marathon Ashland pipeline project

by The Associated Press

A week after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted construction of an underground fuel pipeline across southern Ohio, the general contractor on the job has quit.

Marathon Ashland Petroleum says the HL Crouse Construction company of Perrysburg has voluntarily left the project. Marathon Ashland spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson says the company is negotiating with another contractor.

Just 29 miles remained on the 149-mile project when the government halted the project on July 2 because of environmental concerns. (See adjacent story.)

Officials said construction will remain idled pending approval of a long-term environmental-corrections plan the company must submit to the Corps.

The pipeline is to cross eight Ohio counties, sending gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and kerosene from a Marathon storage terminal in Kenova, West Virginia, to a terminal in Columbus.