Your comments are requested to support a proposed Crude Oil pipeline

[moab_cj5]

In the interest of full disclosure, I do work for an Oil company listed in the article, and I am not authorized to speak for the company, but in my personal opinion and interest, I am very much in favor of this proposed pipeline.

We need gas and diesel (and propane for some) to enjoy our sport (at least until they develop charging stations or solar charging for electric crawlers in the most remote areas

).

If you are interested in cleaner air, reducing traffic on US-40, reducing the impact of 250+ truck per day on the highways of Utah, expanding job opportunities in Utah, and the economy in Utah, please read [URL="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57490216-78/oil-uinta-pipeline-crude.html.csp#%20Oil%20refiner%20Tesoro%20is%20proposing%20to%20build%20a%20135-mile%20insulated%20pipeline%20connecting%20the%20Uinta%20Basin%20with%20the%20refineries%20north%20of%20Salt%"]this[/URL] article and send your comments, with your support of the pipeline to Nelson Gonzalez-Sullow, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 857 W. South Jordan Parkway, South Jordan, UT 84095-8594, or by email uwc_info@fs.fed.us.

If you can attend one of the 2 comment meetings in Heber on Feb 19, or in Bountiful on Feb 20 to voice support, that will help too!

Thank you
for your attention to this.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

As long as I get to design it. I'm in

 

[XJEEPER]

I see the pros and cons.......my brother is an owner/operator who hauls crude from the Basin to refinery. The pipeline would likely eliminate his contract.

 

[moab_cj5]

Yes, it would move the trucks elsewhere, but the overall benefited outweigh the downside IMHO.

 

[sLcREX]

I can see how there would be benefits to the pipeline. I mean not having one, won't stop the process from happening, it will just make it a little harder to transfer the crude right? And a pipeline will be safer as well. Although most of it is private property it said, how is it going to affect the area? Will it lead to road closures later?

Is any of this oil being refined going to Utah or is it all being shipped out of state?

 

[moab_cj5]

I can see how there would be benefits to the pipeline. I mean not having one, won't stop the process from happening, it will just make it a little harder to transfer the crude right? And a pipeline will be safer as well. Although most of it is private property it said, how is it going to affect the area? Will it lead to road closures later?

Is any of this oil being refined going to Utah or is it all being shipped out of state?

Not having the pipe has not deterred production and exploration in Vernal, nor has it deterred any of the 5 refineries in the state from buying and refining it currently. The pipeline makes the transportation of the crude safer, easier, and more reliable, than the current mode by truck.

I don't see any road closures, or access changes from this since the proposed route has it is basically traveling along existing pipeline right of ways as mentioned in the article.

A pipeline is the safest, cheapest, most efficient way to transport Oil. A pipeline eliminates many variables that can be caused by human error. It will take trucks off of the roads which will mean a displacement of jobs locally, but it reduces emissions and wear on the roads from fewer trucks. The displaced truck drivers will be able to find work elsewhere (there is still a HIGH demand for Hazmat drivers nationwide) here in Utah hauling other products, doing different jobs (hauling crude from the fields to the head of the pipeline), or in other areas of the country where the demand is great. Jobs will be created during the construction of the pipe, and also running the pipe after completion. Production in the Uintah Basin may increase as well, creating more opportunities for jobs there as well.

The oil is already being refined by the refineries in SLC now, it is just delivered by truck. A good portion of the finished products (gas, diesel, propane) are sold right here in Utah, but a large portion does also go via pipeline to Idaho and Las Vegas. That doesn't change regardless of the proposed pipeline.

Basically the major change comes from moving the oil from the Myton area to SLC on a pipeline instead of 250+ trucks PER DAY that is happening now.

I don't mean to ramble, and I hope my point comes across well. There are likely some cons to the pipe (the biggest being the displaced truck drivers), but, like I said above, in my opinion, the pros FAR outweigh the cons.

I welcome the chance to debate if people see it differently than I do. It is good if people have different opinions. I personally think the general public is uneducated on where gasoline and diesel come from, how it is distributed, what the infrastructure looks like, etc. Just like I know very little about where and how my electronics are produced. The big difference being that I am not buying electronics twice a week.

 

[Rock Taco]

will gas prices go down or more profits go to the oil companies?

 

[jallen9]

the oil industry is exploding in west texas. half of my family works for oil companies, or will somehow. i think it's a great industry and provides a lot of opportunity and i think we'd be stupid to not continue to develop the industry all over the country.

 

[moab_cj5]

will gas prices go down or more profits go to the oil companies?

Both are likely to happen. Most business are operated as "for profit" businesses, so there is definitely an economic aspect to it. If inputs are cheaper, and market conditions change, it will result in lower prices.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Which is the lesser of the 2 pollutants, the diesel truck emissions or increased pollution output from the increase in productivity the pipeline would provide for the refineries? I'm aware of the environmental implications if a truck crashes along 40 with streams on both sides of Wolf Creek Pass, but that hasn't happened since I have lived here as far as I know.

 

[moab_cj5]

Which is the lesser of the 2 pollutants, the diesel truck emissions or increased pollution output from the increase in productivity the pipeline would provide for the refineries? I'm aware of the environmental implications if a truck crashes along 40 with streams on both sides of Wolf Creek Pass, but that hasn't happened since I have lived here as far as I know.

The refineries are already expanding production and are making changes in order to process more of this crude, so the emissions impact is going to be there regardless of the pipeline. What that means to the trucks without the pipeline is that we will go from 250 to a lot more trucks per day on the road as all of the refineries finish their expansions and create higher demand for the trucks and crude.

With that said, all of the refinery expansions have been approved with the caveat that the refineries install emissions equipment that will actually lower certain emissions after all of the work is done.