FLASHBACK 1990: The proposed Kern River Pipeline—ripping through the heart of Mueller Park—transformed soft-spoken Dave Brown into a leader.
Pipeline or People?
By Cherie Huber
In commemoration of City Weekly's 40th anniversary, we are digging into our archives to celebrate. Each week, we FLASHBACK to a story or column from our past in honor of four decades of local alt-journalism. Whether the names and issues are familiar or new, we are grateful to have this unique newspaper to contain them all.
Title: Pipeline or People?
Author: Cherie Huber
Date: November 6, 1990
You might say that it was purely by chance that Dave Brown ever heard about the Kern River Pipeline and the Wasatch Variation. In June 1987, Brown hosted a monthly executive committee meeting of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club in his home in Bountiful. One of the other members told him of the Environmental Impact Study that, if accepted by the Forest Service, would allow the construction of a pipeline through Mueller Park in Bountiful and Bountiful's culinary watershed, through residential areas in Davis and Salt Lake Counties, and through the proposed expansion area of the Salt Lake International Airport.
Those chance remarks led to the formation of the Bountiful Hills Residents and Concerned Citizens' Association. They also changed Dave Brown, a soft-spoken, quiet man, into a leader. In the three years since, the BHRCCA has waged a battle against the proposed Wasatch Variation of the pipeline. Unfortunately, it is a war they are not winning. The BHRCCA has strong public support, but what appears to be mere lip service from those in political power. "We've had what we felt at the time were some great victories, but in the end the pipeline people just rolled right over us," says Brown.
The group now says it has exhausted all avenues available to them as citizens, everything but a court process. They still have the right to appeal, and an appeal is being filed in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
To file the appeal, the group has asked for help from Kennley Brunsdale, a Bountiful resident who is opposing Congressman Jim Hansen in the current election. Brunsdale has already worked on environmental issues such as the Downwinders case and the Central Utah Project. Because of the way the Forest Service has handled the issue and ignored requirements, Brown believes Brunsdale will be able to present a good case. But it's their last hope. Pipeline construction begins in December, in California, and will work this way.
According to Brown, the group has appealed to Congress, the governor, and city councils, and even has had discussions with the pipeline companies.
"City councils, the Council of Government, the governor, and the Utah State Legislature supported our position, but when push came to shove they all dropped out," Brown says. Indeed, in July of 1989, Bountiful officials refused to disclose documents relating to their secret negotiations with Kern River Gas Transmission Co. The gas company released copies of the draft agreement and Bountiful tabled the matter. No wonder. Bountiful City wanted to keep the agreement quiet. The settlement agreement said, in part:
"The City further agrees that it will not oppose, and will not assist or support any other person or entity which opposes, amendment of the Land and Resource Management plan of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest for the purpose of permitting the construction of Applicant's pipeline."
One point the BHRCCA has hoped to capitalize on was the original deed from George and Florence Mueller. A clause in the deed states that if the covenants are breached, ownership of the park property would revert to Mueller family heirs. "The deed is very specific," says Brown. "It says the park should be used for forestry recreation, as a watershed and for wildlife."
Dave Soutter, a Centerville resident and BHRCCA member, says that the problem with the deed was not uncovered or discussed during the Environmental Impact Study process which shows FERC and Forest Service officials have not done their homework.
When Dave Brown found a copy of the deed in his research and brought it up, the Forest Service consulted lawyers who said they saw no problem in honoring the covenant and allowing a pipeline.
According to Dave Soutter, the Forest Service is now rationalizing with a position that the dominant use of the land is still recreation.
"The Forest Service is willing to gamble on revocation of Mueller Park from public to private ownership. Wasatch Canyon is at risk because of escalating real estate values in that area."
Besides the possible loss of the park, Soutter and Brown see another danger. Any corridor granted to a pipeline will exist as a corridor for other power lines, fiber optic lines, and so forth. "There's a possibility the area will be torn up over and over again. The Forest Service already seems willing to issue a use permit to a second pipeline. How can we believe there's anything to stop other utilities?" Brown asks.
"And it's not just Mueller Park. In Salt Lake, in some places the pipeline would pass only eight feet from back doors or residences because there is already a utility corridor."
"It's not just a South Davis issue. We could not accept an alternative route because it would still impact Morgan and Salt Lake. Those alternatives just shift it to someone else's yard. We represent people from Bluffdale to Morgan County," Soutter says.
On the other hand, the BHRCCA does not oppose the pipeline or the benefits that could be accrued to the oil companies or the people who will benefit. "We only oppose 154 miles of the route which is the Wasatch Deviation, and the unparalleled social, environmental, and safety impact from it and any variation of the Wasatch Variation. They may solve it in our area and dump it in someone else's lap," Brown says.
He points out that no public need has been established for the pipeline, although it would be a money-saving venture for the gas companies. "Jobs, spending, and taxes would be better moved to Eastern Utah, where they are all needed more. There is more impact and less monetary return for Davis and Morgan Counties."
Members of the BHRCCA are also very critical of Rep. Jim Hansen's track record after his repeated promises to support their efforts. His representative recently told the group that there is "only so much one congressman can do." Brown says Hansen has time to co-sponsor a tongue-in-cheek bill that would create a 1.3 million acre Ancient Forest in Northwestern Indiana, but not help with his constituents' problems.
Hansen's office has also told the BHRCCA that they will no longer "donate" their time or staff to the cause; this, despite the fact that Hansen is supposed to represent the citizens of Bountiful.
Brown and Soutter feel the BHRCCA deserves Hansen's time. "After all, we're using public processes. We're not monkeywrenching."
To make matters worse, the Forest Service has now cleared the way for two pipelines to be constructed in parallel trenches through Mueller Park. Dick Kline, Forest Service spokesperson, said that the Forest Service has determined environmental impact of two pipelines will not be any greater than one, if very strict restoration practices are followed, and that concurrent construction would be much less damaging than re-entering the corridor.
Renee Coon, president of BHRCCA, said the Forest Service's decision will be appealed. She said it was a breach of public trust and political blackmail.
Recently, the BHRCCA also discovered that in September, Tennessee congressmen introduced legislation that would give Kern River Pipeline a $129 million tax break to build the pipeline.
Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Kern River Pipeline project was allowed a tax break that will expire unless the pipeline is in service by January 1, 1991. Under the twin bills introduced in the House and Senate, the deadline would be extended to January 1, 1995.
"In this time of government shortfall, the taxpaying public will be subsidizing building the pipeline. Why would we be giving a tax break to a wealthy company like Tenneco?" Tenneco has a 50 percent equity partnership in the Kern River Pipeline project.
"And why can't congressmen from Utah do anything about it?" Brown asks. "Jim Hansen didn't know anything about it."
Brown calls the bills the "acid test" of Jim Hansen's efficiency. "One way to defeat the pipeline is to defeat these two bills. If he acts, it will show where his interest lies."
Members of the BHRCCA are not sure Hansen will ever act in their behalf. "His line of questioning in the congressional hearing seemed to support Wasatch Variation," Soutter says. "When it came time for the citizens to speak, Jim Hansen left. If he were sincere, he would have been there."
"We had over 10,000 people sign the petition, and about 80 percent were from Davis County. How can he ignore all that?" Brown wonders. "He gave lip service to fighting the pipeline and submitted a one sentence bill into the wrong committee in the House."
Brown and Soutter now both feel they are fighting for more than preserving Mueller Park and the Wasatch Forest. "If they can get away with it here, they can do it anywhere," Brown says, and points out pipelines are being built all over.
There are two pipelines now planned in Ohio from Canada that Senator Metzenbaum is helping to fight. And recently Brown got a call from a man in Aztec, New Mexico, who is fighting a pipeline through his property.
The Iroquois Pipeline in New York State is called the celebrity pipeline. Dr. Joyce Brothers had enough pull to have it moved from her property to a less-affluent neighbor's property.
Too bad Robert Redford doesn't live in Davis County.
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