As local anglers pull trout from the stocked Fishing Creek stream near Pine Grove, in the background Dominion Transmission’s Hastings Extraction/ Fractionation Plant towers above all. The plant is a Wetzel County fixture in the landscape and is the largest facility of its kind in the east. People drive by and probably do not realize how many types of products in their daily lives may have origins in plants such as Hastings. Open for over a century, the natural gas processing plant has many products and operations, and as new gas fields open up countywide the plant is busier than ever.

Historically, according to “From Gas Lights to New Energy Heights,” a publication commemorating their centennial in 1998, in 1963 Hope merged with New York State Natural Gas under the name of Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation. In 2000 Dominion bought Consolidated Natural Gas and acquired Hope as part of the transaction. Hope Gas now does business as Dominion Hope. The Hastings Extraction/ Fractionation plant, part of the Dominion Transmission operation, was dedicated in 1968.

Now, according to Brian C. Sheppard, director of natural gas liquids operations at Hastings and for Dominion Transmission, Inc., the business of the plant operates on several levels and runs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and employs 55 workers.

First, natural gas is transmitted to the station through an extensive 2,800 mile pipeline system, with almost 80 percent of the throughput from Appalachian sources. Starting from locations at the wellheads, natural gas is boosted along the way by field compressor stations, and eventually to the final compressors at Hastings. Independent drillers, producers and larger corporations all pay a fee to use the Dominion gas lines to bring gas to the plant. Approximately 30 percent of the raw gas received at Hastings comes from Dominion sources and the remainder comes from other producers. The plant provides a crucial avenue for gas supply distribution in the West Virginia industry. Dominion supports thousands of residential, business, and wholesale customers throughout 32 counties in West Virginia.

The nature of Wetzel County natural gas and much of the gas in the northern West Virginia area bears a description. The gas is what Sheppard terms “wet gas”, having a high heating value in excess of 1,100 btu. The raw gas as it comes from the field needs to be cleaned in the fractionating process to remove the heavier hydrocarbons at the plant. Other types of gas such as coal bed methane have a lower btu and are dryer. The wetter the gas, the more derivatives are possible from it.

The temperature induced phase (cryogenics) processes the wet gas stream, removing hydrocarbons and making gas suitable for high-pressure transmission system customers. Propane, iso-butane, normal-butane, and natural gasoline are then separated in the fractionation area of the plant.

As the gas enters the plant it goes through a cooling process to a cooling tower in which the gas is chilled to minus 102 degrees Fahrenheit to “extract” the heavier hydrocarbons from the gas stream. The liquids are then transferred over to the fractionation area where they go through a series of towers to separate the liquids into the individual pure products. The first tower removes the lightest component, which is propane. The propane is extracted and either sent to storage spheres or sold immediately, being shipped out by rail or truck for home and industrial use. Last year Hastings shipped 250 railcars and 2,200 trucks of propane.

The next product is butane. The butane goes to a splitter; some of the product becomes normal butane fuel, and the remainder is iso-butane, used in the manufacture of refrigerants. Raw natural gasoline (also referred to as casinghead gasoline or natural gasoline) is also extracted and sold to other refineries where it is further processed for gasoline.

Aided by modernized state-of-the-art computers, a trained technical staff, and new equipment, the operators extract the liquids and separate them into the individual products. These products are moved by pipeline or shipped from the Galmish loading facilities by rail car and tank truck to customers throughout the area. Natural gasoline is also pumped by pipeline to storage and shipped by barge from a facility at Bens Run.

Proud of the Hastings employees and their efforts in safety, Sheppard says in 2006 and 2007 Dominion’s Galmish facility won the CSX safety award for shipping and loading. Sheppard reports Dominion is committed to the safety of the employees, facilities, and community. “In addition to our extensive training and safety programs, we provide annual training for the local emergency responders who support our operating area,” said Sheppard. Also, Dominion donated sirens and an emergency all-hazard alert system to the Wetzel County Office of Emergency Services to be utilized in notifying the public of any threat—such as flooding, which is very common in the region.

The Hastings Extraction Plant is one of the largest natural gas plants in the east, processing and fractionating up to 180 million cubic feet of local production per day. Or in simpler terms, enough energy to fuel approximately 250,000 homes.