The Maurepas Pipelines project was comprised of three pipelines: a 34-mile, 6-inch olefins pipeline; a 36-mile, 12-inch vacuum gas oil pipeline; and a 34-mile, 24-inch crude oil pipeline.
The pipelines traverse parts of St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist and Ascension Parishes in Louisiana within one 50-foot right-of-way.
HBK's environmental team provided routing, field surveys, permitting and environmental inspection services to the project. Impacts requiring regulatory approvals obtained by HBK Environmental included:
- 500 acres of wetland impacts, including cypress-tupelo swamp primarily located in the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area within the Louisiana Coastal Zone, offset by nearly 8,000 acres of mitigation.
- The Mississippi River crossing
- A state scenic river crossing
- Crossing federal flood risk reduction levees and the Bonnet Carré Spillway
- To avoid impacts to cultural resources and protected species, Quanta Environmental consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), and Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation.
The Maurepas Pipelines project was the first major project permitted using the Louisiana Rapid Assessment Method for federal mitigation requirement calculations.
HBK's environmental team obtained authorizations or clearances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Regulatory, Civil Works, and Real Estate departments, Louisiana Office of Coastal Management, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, USFWS, LDWF, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation, Pontchartrain Levee District and the Lafourche Basin Levee District.
