DONALDSONVILLE, La. (BRPROUD) — Officials will visit Louisiana to announce funding to repair old gas pipes.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration officials and state and local leaders will be in Donaldsonville on Thursday afternoon to make the announcement, according to a news release.
“The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program is aimed at mitigating safety risk and methane emissions from the highest-risk, legacy natural gas distribution pipes,” the news release states.
Officials said the grant program provides nearly $200 million a year for a total of nearly $1 billion over five years for high-risk natural gas distribution pipes. Funding also includes equipment to help detect and mitigate leaks.
“These grants aim to improve high-risk, legacy pipes, creating hundreds of good-paying pipeline jobs and modernizing infrastructure that has been around for decades and in some cases even nearly two centuries old,” the news release said.
Donaldsonville, along with Carencro, Morgan City, Woodworth, Montpelier, and the Gas Utility District No. 2 of East Feliciana, are expected to receive funding, officials said.