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Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline for Sussex County

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GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) - State officials and several large businesses are talking about building a new pipeline to bring natural gas to Sussex County in greater quantities.

Delaware natural resources secretary Colin O'Mara tells The News Journal of Wilmingtonthat state officials and Eastern Shore Natural Gas, a Dover-based pipeline construction company, are talking about building the new line south of Dover.

O'Mara says they are also talking to some major businesses in the county about becoming customers, including poultry companies.

He says the new pipeline would cost about $165 million.

Sussex is the state's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. Many large customers in the county use heating oil, propane or diesel fuel. Natural gas prices have plunged in recent years, in part because of a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.