Wyoming to Nevada Natural Gas Pipeline Is Nearing Completion

With only about a dozen miles of El Paso Corp.'s Ruby Pipeline yet to be completed and a compressor station in northeastern Nevada close to finished, a company official said the 680-mile route from Kemmerer to Malin, Ore., should be in operation next month. The 42 inch pipeline is expected to be carrying natural gas from Wyoming to the Elko, Nevada station by the end of this week as testing continues segment by segment. While the pipeline testing continues, there also is work yet to be done on reclamation of stretches of the pipeline route to be seeded, using top soil saved during excavation. El Paso Corp. spokesman Richard Wheatley said the company expects to complete the $3.55 billion project next month, but there isn't a final date. El Paso Corp. estimated last year that the project would employ nearly 5,000 people along the route.