Miss. Gas Pipeline Project Abandoned

The company said this week that the project is no longer economically feasible.

"We, along with our joint venture partner Spectra Energy, discontinued the development of the Mid-Continent Crossing Project after completing a thorough analysis of the market potential and the associated economics," Leticia Lowe, a CenterPoint spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The pipeline had been a big concern to DeSoto County supervisors and landowners because no local approval was needed. The land could have been purchased through condemnation if the project were approved by federal regulators.

The project also would have cut through prime development areas.

Board of Supervisors president Bill Russell called the decision "a great thing for DeSoto County. It's almost impossible to find a line across the county without disrupting someone's development now."

Mary Lee Brown, an attorney representing landowners whose property had been surveyed for a potential pipeline route, said there are no guarantees a pipeline will not be pursued in the future.

For now, she said, "we're pleased."

Landowners generally opposed the pipeline because it would have interfered with plans for future residential development.

Supervisors passed a resolution in November asking the pipeline companies to stay out of the county.

Surveyors showed up last summer, in some cases crossing paths with angry landowners who hadn't been told about the project. CenterPoint Energy representatives were seen across the midsection of the county, from Lake Cormorant to the outskirts of Olive Branch.

CenterPoint said the company was evaluating different possibilities for a pipeline to bring natural gas from the West to markets in the Midwest and Northeast.