Citizens criticize pipeline proposal

Citizens criticize pipeline proposal

Mar. 22, 2001

HOUSES SIT clearly less than 3,000 feet from the Williams Pipeline Company’s Dolores pump station, as shown in this photo taken Wednesday morning. A draft environmental impact statement by the BLM claimed that no residences existed within that boundary. Light, noise and smell were among concerns raised by citizens who attended a public meeting to discuss the draft EIS Tuesday night at the Anasazi Heritage Center.

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Critics of a proposal to transport petroleum products across southwestern Colorado through an existing Williams pipeline expressed deep concern about the plan at a BLM public meeting on Tuesday evening.

The Williams Pipeline Company proposal would use a 10-inch natural-gas pipeline constructed in 1982 to transfer refined petroleum products such as jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline from Bloomfield, N.M., to Crescent Junction, Utah, a distance of nearly 235 miles.

The pipeline runs through an electric transmission utility corridor between Mancos and Dove Creek, crossing private, BLM, and Forest Service land, and would carry up to 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum products per day. Each barrel holds 42 gallons.

The terminal at Crescent Junction is a 50-acre facility that will store the transported petroleum products, which will be trucked out to the retail market from there.

The meeting, held at the Anasazi Heritage Center, was hosted by the BLM to gather citizen comments on the Williams, Questar, and Kern River pipeline projects’ draft environmental impact statement. Questar and Kern River are vying to put in additional natural-gas pipelines in Utah, which are the centerpiece of the EIS.

If the project is approved, Williams would construct a new pipeline and, in addition, four new pump stations would be constructed. One of the new pump stations would lie on BLM land south of the New Mexico-Colorado border, one west of Durango on private land, a third on BLM land north of Moab, and the fourth near Crescent Junction.

Five existing stations at Ignacio, Dolores, Dove Creek, Lisbon, and Moab would be modified by adding new pumps and piping, and new valves would be installed. The southwestern Colorado section would be retrofitted with a total of 43 valves.

The pipeline crosses the San Juan, Florida, Animas, La Plata and Colorado rivers. Williams plans to modify the existing pump stations, and begin construction of its terminals at Crescent Junction and Nephi over a two-year period.

In 1999, Williams installed an additional 16.75-inch pipeline across Utah and Colorado to import natural gas to the Rocky Mountain Region. The company originally applied for a 10.75-inch line, but said it was inadequate to transport the volume of natural gas.

The draft EIS promises that the pipeline would be routinely monitored and inspected for evidence of corrosion and pipeline damage, but citizens commenting on the proposal were skeptical of this promise.

Glen Humiston, who has pipelines crossing his land, said that Williams "lied" during the public-comment period about a proposal in 1998, putting in a 16-inch line instead of a 10-inch line.

He expressed disapproval of the new proposal and said, "They can talk all they want about safety, but refined fuels have a higher corrosive factor than natural gas and I don’t want them leaking on my place."

In addition, he said, "The BLM and Forest Service do not give one hoot and holler about our private property. If you folks are going to allow them to run over us roughshod, then it should be your responsibility to guarantee to us that those lines are 100 percent safe."

Jack Spence, who lives within a mile of the Dolores pump station, said the noise level from the gas turbines is "somewhere between detectable and very annoying." Spence estimated the proposed pump modification would double the current noise level far past what the draft EIS estimated.

Spence also said the draft EIS did not address the noise concerns and contained blatant errors.

"An evaluation of aerial photos indicated that there would be no residences within 3,000 feet of any of the existing or proposed pump stations," the EIS states about the Dolores pump station. "While no information is available about baseline noise generation from existing station, it is unlikely that the pump turbines at the new sites, or the combination of new and old pumps at the existing sites would exceed 55 dBa (decibels) at the nearest residence."

But Spence estimated that there are close to a dozen houses within 3,000 feet of the pump station — one of which is his own on County Road 33.

"The draft environmental impact statement regarding Dolores noise is totally inadequate," said Spence. "Why is it they can’t measure it (the noise)? Not a single noise-level measurement has been made on any existing pump station."

David Wuchert argued that Williams’ track record has not exactly been stellar. When Williams constructed a pipeline south of Durango under the river it "did it without any permits" and "destroyed habitat," he claimed.

He was concerned about inadequate quality controls, inadequate monitoring, the availability to the public of monitoring results, and the impact of leaks on aquifers. Both Wuchert and others expressed frustration and confusion over what agency would address landowner concerns.

Casey Lamunyon said she lives within a quarter-mile of the pump station, and sound, light, and noise are issues. She said she can hear the noise in her house, and can read at night from the lights around the pump. The smell has "been so horrible it made me sick."

"The oil people, the gas people, cannot be trusted at all," said Bob Bement, who owns a farm the pipeline crosses.

A representative from Williams left the room before an introduction was made, and did not return to the meeting. No one from the BLM responded to the concerns voiced by the citizens.

Although the BLM is the lead agency, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an advocate for private landowners, are also involved.

The Forest Service will write a letter of concurrence or non-concurrence with the final decision, and FERC will issue a certificate of public convenience.

The BLM officials said they would be evaluating the impacts of accidental leaks and pipeline failures upon the environment, as well as roaded or unroaded areas, landslide hazards, surface and water, threatened and endangered animals, Native Americans, and visual resources.

Mark Mackiewicz, the BLM’s assistant project manager for the pipeline project, said the citizen concerns recorded at the meeting would be summarized and answered in the final environmental impact statement due out in June.