Natural Gas Pipeline Proximity Screener — US EIA/NTAD Lines

Natural gas pipeline map proximity check: give this actor a list of sites (lat/lon) and it returns the nearest natural-gas transmission pipeline segment for each one — operator, interstate/intrastate type, status, distance in miles, compass bearing, and a right-of-way (ROW) encroachment band (<500ft, <0.25mi, <1mi, >1mi, or NONE). Built on the US DOT National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) natural gas pipeline layer (sourced from EIA).

Who this is for

• Pipeline ROW / encroachment teams monitoring third-party construction, grading, or new structures near a pipeline corridor.
• Energy and industrial site-selection teams screening candidate parcels for pipeline proximity before a land option or lease.
• Excavation, HDD (horizontal directional drilling), and utility-locate contractors doing a first-pass desktop check before dispatching a locate crew.
• Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) consultants who need a documented pipeline-proximity finding for a report.
• Real estate / title / insurance due diligence teams screening a property portfolio for gas-transmission-line exposure.

What it does

For each input site, the actor:

1. Builds a bounding-box (envelope) query around the site at your chosen radius (default 5 miles).
2. Queries the NTAD/EIA natural gas pipeline ArcGIS FeatureServer for polyline segments intersecting that envelope.
3. Computes the true nearest-point-on-line distance (not just centroid distance) for every candidate segment, filters to those actually within the radius, and sorts nearest-first.
4. Emits one row per nearby pipeline segment (up to maxPipelinesPerAsset), each carrying the segment's own distance/operator/type/status plus per-asset summary fields (nearest distance/operator overall, total pipeline count within radius, and the encroachment band).
5. If nothing is found within radius, emits a single explicit "clear" row (clear_flag: true) so a zero-result site is never silently missing from your dataset.

Example input

{
  "assets": [
    { "lat": 29.76, "lon": -95.37, "label": "Houston TX site" },
    { "lat": 38.48, "lon": -98.02, "label": "Rural KS control" }
  ],
  "radiusMiles": 5,
  "maxPipelinesPerAsset": 25
}

Each asset accepts { "lat": ..., "lon": ..., "label": "..." }, a "lat,lon" string, or a [lat, lon] array.

Output fields

Field	Description
asset_label / asset_lat / asset_lon	The screened site as provided.
operator	Operator of this pipeline segment.
typepipe	NTAD/EIA pipeline type (e.g. Interstate, Intrastate).
status	Raw NTAD/EIA status for the segment.
distance_miles	Distance in miles from the site to the nearest point on this segment.
bearing_deg	Compass bearing (0–360°, 0 = north) from the site to that nearest point.
within_radius	True for pipeline-hit rows; false on the clear row.
nearest_distance_miles / nearest_operator	Per-asset summary: the single closest pipeline overall.
pipelines_within_radius	Per-asset summary: total distinct segments found within radius.
encroachment_band	<500ft, <0.25mi, <1mi, >1mi, NONE, or ERROR.
clear_flag	True only on the explicit zero-hit row for an asset.
error	Populated only on ERROR rows (bad coordinates or upstream failure).
checked_at / source_url	Run timestamp and the NTAD/EIA layer queried.

Use as an MCP tool

This actor is Pay-Per-Event (Result-only billing) and discoverable to AI agents via mcp.apify.com — Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients can call it directly as a "find the nearest gas pipeline to this address/coordinate" tool, chaining it with geocoders or other siting/proximity actors (electric grid, wetlands, floodplain, critical habitat) for a combined due-diligence workflow.

FAQ

How close is the nearest gas pipeline to an address? Geocode the address to lat/lon, pass it in assets, and read nearest_distance_miles and encroachment_band from the result.

Is there a pipeline near my property? Yes — set a radiusMiles that matches your ROW/setback concern (e.g. 0.25–1 mile) and check pipelines_within_radius and clear_flag.

Is there a gas transmission line map API? This actor wraps the US DOT NTAD natural gas pipeline layer (sourced from EIA) behind a simple lat/lon-in, distance-out API — no GIS software required.

What does the encroachment band mean? It's an editorial proximity classification (<500ft / <0.25mi / <1mi / >1mi) based on the distance to the nearest in-radius pipeline segment — useful for flagging sites that need a closer ROW/encroachment review or an operator call.

Data source & disclaimer

Source: US DOT National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), "Natural Gas Pipelines" layer (sourced from EIA), a public ArcGIS FeatureServer. This is an informational proximity screen only — not a locate ticket, survey, or official right-of-way determination. Pipeline geometry is a compiled national reference and can lag as-built conditions. Before excavation, siting, or a Phase I ESA conclusion, call 811 / your state one-call center and confirm with the pipeline operator of record.

Pricing

Pay-Per-Event: $8 per 1,000 result rows (Apify default-dataset-item event). Empty/clear results still cost the buyer only the tiny actor-start.