PennEast pipeline developers are asking the state Department of Environmental Protection for permission to access a site in Kidder Township for an engineering study.

The company submitted a permit application to DEP requesting authorization of six temporary wetland crossings and one temporary water-body crossing.According to Sarah Binckley, a biologist with AECOM in Conshohocken, it plans to conduct geotechnical test borings, infiltration testing, noise studies and cathodic protection studies on PennEast's behalf south of Route 940 in Kidder Township.Boring operations will be conducted to evaluate the subsurface site conditions."It will help PennEast with design and engineering of the proposed compressor station in Kidder and its interconnection with the pipeline," Binckley said.The state requires companies to do infiltration testing to design stormwater facilities."Noise studies are required so that appropriate noise mitigation can be incorporated in the compressor station design and cathodic protection studies are required to determine strategies PennEast would employ to prevent pipeline corrosion," Binckley said.Carbon County commissioners received notice of PennEast's application on May 26.PennEast is planning the compressor station for a 74-acre lot along Route 940 near the intersection of Industrial Lane in Kidder Township. It is to be the only station along the approximately 115-mile pipeline between Luzerne County and New Jersey.The 48,000-horsepower unit is made up of four large compressors and turbines. According to the Carbon County Planning Commission, the plan calls for connecting the station's sewer system into the Jack Frost Wastewater Treatment plan.The station will accommodate between a dozen and 20 employees who will man it around the clock, G. Craig Harahus of Blue Ridge Real Estate Company of Blakeslee said in April.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is still working on an environmental-impact statement for the project and has announced it won't make a final decision on the pipeline until March 2017.