Landowners upset by pipeline plan

Landowners upset by pipeline plan

Sept. 23, 1999

By Jim Mimiaga

DOLORES – The prospect of another pipeline-construction project that would cut through portions of private property in Montezuma and La Plata counties raised the ire of local landowners Tuesday at a public meeting in the Dolores Community Center.

Navajo Pipeline Co., out of Artesia, N.M., wants to construct a petroleum-products line adjacent to an existing pipeline in an already established corridor passing through federal and private land in western Colorado.

The proposed 12-inch pipeline would carry refined gasoline, jet fuel or diesel fuel from the company’s storage terminal in Bloomfield, N.M., to a storage facility west of Grand Junction, from which it would be trucked to Colorado markets. It would parallel an installed fossil-fuel line recently constructed in the interstate-commerce corridor by another company, TransColorado, for 210 miles.

The two-hour meeting was called to collect public comment on the proposal for an environmental impact study required by the Bureau of Land Management to determine impacts of construction and operations of the pipeline. Any impacts that affect private land must be mitigated by Navajo to the satisfaction of the landowner.

Dozens of private landowners showed up at the meeting to ask questions and voice discontent over the possibility of more pipelines being buried in the corridor, which they said disrupts farm and ranch operations and causes a multitude of other problems. More than half of the corridor traverses federal land.

Jim Townsend, vice president of Navajo’s pipelines and terminals, assured the concerned crowd that contracts will be negotiated, as was done with previous pipeline companies, to compensate private landowners for granting easement access.

"Just because we are in the same right-of-way as TransColorado doesn’t mean that we go through with no charge," he said. "There will be contracts drawn up with each individual landowner to get permission, and we will follow those agreements."

But many in the crowd were skeptical, pointing out that some aspects of agreements made with TransColorado had not been fulfilled satisfactorily. Complaints of damage or problems created by previous pipeline construction crews and their subcontractors ranged from destroyed fences, ruined waterways, erosion, noxious-weed infestation and blocked access to private farm and ranch operations during the construction process.

"TransColorado destroyed a water ditch that many people rely on. When I went to utilize water rights from it in the spring, the ditch was completely gone," said Mancos rancher Kenny Robbins. "They never contacted anyone; they just cut through it and we had to chase them down to get it repaired."

On the problem of noxious weeds, Navajo officials said that they would work to prevent them from spreading by setting up wash-out stations for equipment and working with local weed-control managers.

Minimal vegetation clearing would be required under the proposal, said Townsend. The new underground line requires a 50-foot overlapping right-of-way within a 100-foot corridor already cleared by TransColorado, and would, where possible, be separated from the existing pipeline by 25 feet for safety reasons, said Scott Ellis of ENSR.

"What about blasting during construction? That cannot be safe with a live line a short distance away," asked Lynn Gardner, whose family owns property along the corridor.

After learning that the 12-inch line would be carrying between 50,000 and 70,000 barrels of fuel per day, several audience members said they were worried about ruptures in the future, especially where the pipeline traverses steep shale slopes known to shift over time.

"We want to know that there will be rapid response time in case of a break caused by a landslide or earthquake," one man said. "Otherwise there is a great risk of contaminating our water sources. How long it takes to shut it off, and how much goes downstream in the meantime needs to be addressed in the EIS."

It was recorded in the public comments that automatic valves should be installed instead of manual ones, especially near water sources. The pipeline would cross many rivers, including the Dolores, Mancos, San Miguel, Gunnison and Colorado. Automatic valves are controlled via satellite link to a company control center in Artesia and can be shut down within seconds, Townsend said, adding that federal regulations on liquid lines only require manual valves with year-round access on either side of waterways.

"(But) if you think that automatic valves are needed to protect rivers, then we have to address that," he said.

Once the EIS is completed, there will be a public comment period early next year, at which point the proposal will be approved or denied. Construction is expected to take four months and would be done over the summer.