Property owners whose land could be crossed by natural gas pipelines proposed for Warren County took an in-depth view of the route maps Tuesday.

In back-to-back events at Vicksburg Convention Center, about 50 landowners gathered information and voiced their thoughts on the two projects, which, if both are approved by federal energy regulators, would run only about 10 miles apart after crossing under the Mississippi River.

Officials with Houston-based Duke Energy Gas Transmission Inc. held an information session on their proposal, one they took to Warren County supervisors and won approval to pay a &#8220fee-in-lieu” of property taxes.

The company plans to partner with CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission to build a 36-inch, 270-mile interstate pipeline that will extend from Delhi, La., through Warren County between the Yokena and Cedars communities, cross parts of 12 counties in Mississippi, then end at a hub in Mobile, Ala., partially owned by Duke Energy.

Called the Southeast Supply Header, the line would link natural gas supply in eastern Texas and north Louisiana to markets in the southeast and northeast United States.

At the &#8220open house” session, landowners looked at some of the first maps of the project made available.

&#8220I wanted to see what the route is and if it will run in front my house or in back of it,” said John Price, studying a map of property he said he owns off U.S. 61 South in Yokena.

Others, like Dale Wallace, with property near the proposed route talked about the environment, particularly forest and timberlands.

&#8220It’s just being eaten up piece by piece,” Wallace said.

Juan Polit of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an assistant project manager of the commission’s required environmental impact study on the proposal, said one step that such projects take to meet federal approval is avoiding &#8220environmental hot spots,” such as residential areas and national and state parks.

Polit moderated a public comment session, or a &#8220scoping meeting,” about an hour later at the convention center concerning a second proposed pipeline, one where Houston-based Gulf South Pipeline LP would build and operate a 42-inch natural gas pipeline along an 88-mile stretch from a hub near Delhi, La., to one in Florence.

That pipeline would come into Warren County at a point just south of the Baxter Wilson Power Plant, continue across U.S. 61 South near Grange Hall Road and run across the county line with Hinds near the southern edge of Bovina Cut-Off Road.

The project will also require Gulf South to build a new compressor station near Tallulah.

The company has said the line, called the Mississippi Expansion Project, will connect with another in eastern Texas to improve natural gas transmission at two different hubs that service the Gulf South, at north Louisiana and at Kosciusko.

The session was held to record public comments in advance of an environmental impact study, usually the next step after the open house.

Landowners there were more adamantly against the project, citing safety and fear that it would lower their property values.

&#8220We’ve not asked for the pipeline, nor do we want it,” said Bill Burks of Madison Parish, who told those in attendance he was approached by officials with Duke Energy about their project as well.

Duke Energy agreed to consider altering its route across his property to avoid areas where wildlife on his acreage would be affected, Burks said.

Michael Withrow spoke about erosion. &#8220We’re kidding ourselves if they think they can mitigate erosion by planting grass and flowers,” he said.

Officials with both Duke Energy and Gulf South said upon a pipeline’s completion, land is usually returned to better condition than before the project begins. They also stressed that each proposed route is tentative and subject to approval by FERC pending the environmental review.

The review, called an environmental impact statement, will take into account a litany of potential issues, including erosion, water resources, wildlife, and overlapping rights-of-way with other public utilities before a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity is issued.

&#8220I’ve never been on a project yet that a route was not adjusted,” said Jeff Crowson, a rights-of-way official with Duke Energy.

Both projects are in the &#8220pre-filing” stage, where company officials and FERC appear to stage information sessions and record comments that will be used in the environmental study.

Unlike Duke Energy, Gulf South has not approached the county with any requests for tax breaks. The door has been left open to explore tax-bonds as part of the Gulf Opportunity Zone, company officials have said.

Executives with both companies have downplayed any competition between the two proposals.

The Southeast Supply Header expects a decision by federal regulators by November, with construction hoped for sometime in 2007.

An open house on the Mississippi Expansion Project was held in Raymond in April and is ahead of Duke Energy in terms of its regulatory time frame. Gulf South expects to begin construction in late Spring 2007, with service beginning later in the year.

Duke Energy Gas Transmission is the gas pipeline developing arm of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy. Their natural gas operations in the United States include more than 11,500 miles of interstate transmission pipeline and 100 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.

Gulf South Pipeline Company operates over 7,500 miles of pipeline with 29 compressor stations and more than 100 pipeline interconnects. A subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, itself a subsidiary of The Loews Corporation, Gulf South manages field offices in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.

The company lists about a half-dozen cites in Mississippi as customers, including Vicksburg. According to the company’s Web site, its contract to provide gas service to Vicksburg runs through March 2009.

This week, the city recently reopened one of its pipelines along the Kansas City Southern railway’s right-of-way and began purchasing gas from Gulf South, Tim Smith, gas manager in the city planning department, said earlier Tuesday.