advertisement

---

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) announced today that its Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road Co. (CUOH) subsidiary has signed a long-term agreement to serve a $900 million natural gas liquids (NGLs) fractionation hub that Utica East Ohio Midstream L.L.C. is constructing in Scio, Ohio.

Scheduled to open in May 2013, the processing/fractionation/storage facility will be the largest integrated midstream service complex in eastern Ohio and the short-line holding company's largest customer in the Utica Shale, GWI officials said in a prepared statement. CUOH will construct a one-mile siding and rehabilitate a three-mile storage track to serve the facility, which when fully operational is projected to ship 10,000 carloads of NGLs annually.

The Scio plant will also benefit from a recent $2 million expansion of CUOH's main yard in Newark, Ohio, that was funded by a public-private partnership between the short line and state of Ohio, GWI officials said. The yard expansion will facilitate the sorting of 100,000 rail cars per year for more than 80 customers and several new Utica Shale-related projects that have located or plan to locate on CUOH's line, they said.

The company's railroads in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York operate networks that directly overlay core development areas of the Utica Shale and western Marcellus Shale, GWI officials said.

"Efficient rail service is a key requirement of shale development, and we are committed to providing our customers with the necessary rail services to meet their long-term transportation needs in the Utica and Marcellus markets," said John Murray, assistant vice president of sales and marketing for GWI's Ohio Region.