CHENANGO COUNTY – A natural gas pipeline project that would have given several county municipalities an energy alternative and allowed one of the county’s largest employers to expand has been put on hold.

The Nornew Energy Supply, Inc. pipeline project that was to run from Bradley Brooke field in Madison County to the Village of Greene received a $2 million capital grant from Empire State Development in 2002. The Raymond Corporation in Greene, where the pipeline would end, was to have benefited from the $28 million project to the tune of adding 120 new positions. Beyond benefiting the lift truck company, the natural gas would have been made available to municipalities along the way. Initially, work on the project was to have been completed by 2007.

According to the Chenango County Chamber of Commerce, delays in the project during the development process and changes in commitments from involved parties led to a situation where requirements to fulfill obligations for the state grant could not be met. The scope of the project changed and the money can not be held indefinitely.