AlQa'dah 27, 1433, Oct 13, 2012, SPA - The Puerto Rican government has withdrawn plans to build a natural gas pipeline after it invested over $50 million in a project that received strong opposition from islanders and environmentalists, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday. According to an Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman, the agency received a letter requesting the abandonment of the project. The decision came four months after a government-appointed committee rejected plans for the pipeline that would have bisected the island, and offered alternatives. Governor Luis Fortuno had originally supported the project as a means to reduce dependence on oil, saying the 148-kilometer pipeline would have saved $1 billion a year. Government officials said they would consider other natural gas options and they expect to choose one by the middle of 2013.
