Assessment of a Pipeline Route in a Karst Terrain, Florida, USA

A pipeline, known as Sabal Trail Pipeline, for natural gas transport has been proposed to extend from Alabama to Florida, passing through a very fragile and mostly uncovered karst terrain in Florida. There is considerable concern as to the structural integrity of the pipeline as well as its potential impacts on the environment, particularly on groundwater quality of the Floridan aquifer. Using Geographic Information Systems, this study examines the extent of karst in the proposed trail route and suggest two new alternative routes with significantly less karst development. Mean depression density within 5 km of the proposed Sabal Trail route is 5.2 depressions per km2, with a spatial coverage of 12.2%. Depressions within the alternative route have significantly lower density -2.1 depressions per km2 and much smaller spatial coverage; 5.7%. The routes were also compared with respect to intersected land cover categories.