McKim & Creed worked with a shale gas operator to develop a turnkey brine water gathering and distribution pipeline and disposal project. The project collects, pumps, and disposes of produced water from a number of collection facilities and well pads. The system includes multiple pump stations, approximately 32 miles of buried HDPE pipeline that is collected through four main pipeline system, and tie ins to four disposal well facilities. Complex hydraulic modeling and close coordination with the client allow the system to accept frequently varying flowrates from the facilities through an efficient piping system. A centralized control system allows the operator to vary flow and constantly monitor conditions at each facility. The pipeline was installed using open-cut and horizontal directional drilling methods along a route that was selected to reduce environmental and landowner impacts. This turnkey project included project development, management of rights-of-way acquisition, environmental evaluations, permitting, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning.
