Company plans jet fuel line from port to airport

The Tampa project would cover 9 miles and cost $20-million.

By JANET ZINK and STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writers
Published September 22, 2007

TAMPA - A Houston company plans to build a 9-mile jet fuel pipeline from the Port of Tampa to Tampa International Airport.

Kinder Morgan, one of North America's largest fuel pipeline and storage companies, is working with city, county and state officials to get permits for the $20-million project. Construction is expected to begin by April and finish at the end of the year.

The 8-inch-diameter pipeline would start at Kinder Morgan's fuel terminal on Hooker's Point and enter the airport from N Dale Mabry Highway south of Tampa Bay Boulevard.

A route hasn't yet been finalized, but officials from Kinder Morgan are setting up meetings with neighborhood leaders in Ybor City, Tampa Heights and West Tampa.

"That's a positive," said Ryan Schumann, second vice president of the Tampa Heights Civic Association. "At least they want to come to us first and talk to us."

Schumann said he will reserve judgment on the safety of the pipeline until he hears from its builders.

"They do take a lot of precautions. but just like anybody else, nobody wants this in their back yard or their neighborhood," he said.

Jaque Williams, director of major projects for Kinder Morgan, said he met with Mayor Pam Iorio in May, and she asked the company to keep the pipeline out of neighborhoods as much as possible.

"We've tried to do that. It's impossible not to hit some neighborhoods," he said.

The pipe will run through the city of right-of-way, requiring the company to pay the city a fee for use of the land.

Central Florida Pipeline, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, already has a jet fuel line that runs from the port to Orlando International Airport.

Another company, Tampa Pipeline Corp., owns the only jet fuel pipeline supplying Tampa International. The pipeline runs from fuel tanks at Port Tampa, just north of MacDill Air Force Base.

A consortium of nine airlines at Tampa International Airport agreed to purchase fuel from the new line. They want to assure a growing supply of fuel and competition among suppliers, said airport director Louis Miller.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified September 21, 2007, 23:50:58]