Keller tours Energy Transfer

Atop a small hill off a dirt road tucked inside a secure, fenced-in area, a vast system of pipes, valves, steel towers snake in and around several small nondescript metal buildings.
It is here, just north of Montoursville, where 92 million cubic feet of natural gas per day is compressed and dried.
“Our sole purpose here at the station is to bump up pressure of gas for sales to customers and to dry the gas,” Andrew Harvey, pipeline technician for Energy Transfer, said.
Harvey led a tour of the site on Thursday.
Among the visitors was U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, who, like many federal lawmakers spends much of the month away from Washington getting a look at industrial and company sites.
Keller said the company plays an important part in the gas industry of the region.
He noted that a good part of the nation’s energy resources come from his 12th Congressional District.
Harvey explained that pipelines from gas wells in the area feed into the station for the process of compressing and drying the gas.
The station is the third largest of the company’s facility in the region.
“We are at capacity pretty much,” he said.
Only a small handful of people man the station at any one time, but all efforts are made to ensure a safe and efficient operation.
Inspections and regular maintenance are a regular part of the routine.
Harvey noted that plenty of water gets into the gas, much of which must be removed.
“Hot days can be the hardest on our drying system,” he said.
But it’s the cold weather, which can cause what he terms “freeze-ups,” creating some of the biggest problems.
The operation is a never-ending cycle.
“We have to have eyes on this all the time,” he said.