Alliance gets permit for rail spur

Plans progressing for filling former Kinder Morgan tanks by rail
Swift County has approved a conditional use permit for Alliance Energy to start work on a railroad spur and propane off-loading structure near the former Kinder-Morgan facility west of Benson.
After more than 30 years of the Kinder Morgan Cochin pipeline providing propane to the bulk storage tank facility along U.S. Highway 12, the company is no longer carrying propane through the pipeline. The last load was supplied in April.
Rather than carrying propane south from Canada, the pipeline is now transporting approximately 95,000 barrels per day of a light condensate north that will be mixed with thick tar sands oil. The diluted mixture will be able to be shipped through other pipelines.
With its facility near Benson no longer needed for storage, Kinder Morgan sold it. In September, Alliance Energy of Murdock signed an agreement with Kinder Morgan for the purchase of its tank storage site and said it planned to invest $4 million into the facility to allow it to be resupplied by rail.
The permit request came before county planning commission June 2 and was approved, Swift County Environmental Services Office Scott Collins told commissioners.
The facility will be able to hold 64 rail cars, but half of those cars will be empty. “We have to hold as many empties as we do full,” Dooley said. “The facility has to be able to handle 32 empty cars and 32 full cars at one time.”