Silver Creek Estates resident Ted Colvin says a black pickup with black Texas plates rolled up his driveway a few months ago.
The two men inside were from Dallas-based HF Sinclair, and they wanted to talk with him about a pipeline that could carry refined oil through Summit County.
“And we're patting our bellies, and he's laughing, he goes, ‘Yeah, everything's bigger in Texas,’ you know?” Colvin told KPCW.
Project Westline Connect, as the initiative is known, would increase capacity on the existing Pioneer Pipeline, which carries gasoline from south-central Wyoming to North Salt Lake.
The existing Pioneer line enters Utah along Interstate 80, branches over to Interstate 84 and follows Weber Canyon into Davis County.
HF Sinclair is considering moving the pipe southward when it expands it. The company provided Salt Lake City with maps of a proposed route, which are attached to the Tuesday Salt Lake City Council agenda.
In Summit County, the expanded pipeline appears to run south of Interstate 80, through the Cherry Canyon neighborhood where Jeff Graham lives.
“The two gentlemen that came to my door were very cordial. They were factual, but they didn't give me or didn't want to give me much information,” Graham said.
Colvin described his conversation with the Sinclair representatives as jovial, but he still has concerns about the project.
Sinclair’s map shows the pipeline could cross under the Weber River or Silver Creek, into Silver Creek Estates and Glenwild. Colvin, who has a well, worries a leak could threaten groundwater.
“There’s so many, many, many things that could go wrong,” he said. “Whichever canyon they take this down to get to Salt Lake, whether it's Emigration or Parleys Canyon, this pipeline is going to go right across the Wasatch Fault.”
Sinclair has not said if the maps it shared with Salt Lake City are up-to-date or whether they show the current preferred route.
Communications Director Leslie Ellis says the draft route “generally follows an existing utility corridor,” which the company says would reduce environmental impacts.
And although the route appears to cross the Summit County-owned 910 Ranch, Sinclair previously confirmed to KPCW it does not intend to cross any part of that property.
It says Project Westline Connect’s final route has not yet been selected. The goal is to expand the Pioneer Pipeline’s capacity from 60,000 barrels per day to about 95,000.
