Among the various high pressure pipelines operated by a natural gas company in Chicago, Illinois are two parallel 24-inch lines that traverse about a mile (1.6 km) of wetland. In 1995 it became necessary to rehabilitate the cathodic protection on these pipelines It was necessary to design and install an impressed current system that would meet the
environmental requirement of preserving the wetland while at the same time providing adequate protection to the pipelines. This was accomplished by using a long horizontal groundbed consisting of anodes and cokebreeze within a porous cloth bag. This was pulled
through a directionally drilled hole beneath the surface of the wetland and connected to an existing rectifier that had been installed some years ago. The entire operation took place with no damage to the wetland and the owner was able to meet its environmental responsibility as well as its responsibility under the DOT regulations. Keywords: cathodic protection, gas pipelines, environmental issues, wetland.