Preparing for the pipeline

April 5, 2005

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

ANCHORAGE - Warren Keogh is tired of his town, Chickaloon, being viewed as an energy corridor, a place through which a planned natural-gas pipeline will snake underground from Glennallen to Palmer.

"Wherever you reside you have value attached to where you live," Keogh said during an Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority board meeting Monday in Anchorage. "We live in Chickaloon by design, by choice. On a personal level, I'm not happy. It's a place I want to hand off to my three sons. It's a place where I berry pick and moose hunt."

ANGDA Chief Executive Officer Harold Heinze and the board heard the views of Keogh and two other Chickaloon residents, as well as presentations by companies contracted by ANGDA to gather information necessary to complete the right-of-way application, before handing over to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources a right-of-way application for the 148-mile underground spur line.

DNR will ask for more public input, double-check federal and state mandates to which ANGDA must adhere and determine whether additional studies are required, before reporting its findings to the gas authority sometime around September, ANGDA consultant OD Odsather said.

ANGDA would most likely lease rights of way from homeowners rather than buy the land, according to Odsather. State legislators have approved about $2.1 million for the design and right-of-way part of the project. That money can be used after July 1, Odsather said.

The Chickaloon residents who spoke asked board members to be sensitive to the lifestyle they enjoy in the remote area where the proposed pipeline falls.

"I choose to live remote. I don't want a pipeline going through my yard," said Robert Michael, adding that the proposed spur line goes within 50 feet of his house. He said people already trespass on his property when they are recreating on state lands adjacent to his property and that people even remove his "no trespassing" signs.

"There's no need to go across private lands," Michael said.

Nancy Taylor, another Chickaloon resident, agreed, asking the board to use state property as an alternative.

"Take into consideration an alternative route, to protect and preserve our lifestyle," Taylor said.

Heinze said owning a home in Talkeetna and enjoying the remoteness there has provided him with some sensitivity to the desires of the Chickaloon residents.

Board member Scott Hayward indicated he wasn't opposed to additional costs of constructing the pipeline in a less invasive manner.

"If there's a cost to move the spur line off people's property, we'd be willing to pay that," Hayward said.

"We're not going to run a high-pressured gas line under anyone's house," said Heinze, adding that if private land-owners don't want to lease right of way, the state has provided ANGDA with eminent-domain opportunities.

As far as the alternative route is concerned, taking the spur line down the Parks or Denali highways would prove problematic, crossing through reserves and wetlands.

The current proposal for the spur line poses a bit of a difficulty around Caribou Creek, where there are two earthquake faults, said Vin Robinson of Baker Engineering & Energy.

Heinze explained that the rights of way already exist on state lands, but not on private land, which is why the application process was necessary.

"There's a large number of existing utility easements, especially as you get closer to Palmer," Heinze said.

Chickaloon resident Keogh said ANGDA should publish public notices sooner. He saw the notice for Monday's board meeting at the Chickaloon Post Office only a few days before the meeting.

"Many of us are actively participating and monitoring it. We need more lead time with public notice postings," Keogh said, suggesting a mailing list might be more effective.

"During the next six to nine months, we'll be more diligent. But I assure you we take the proper process with public notices," Heinze said. "We have reached far beyond what's required. It's not like we're shutting out Chickaloon. This organization has chosen to do this very openly."

Now that the process of evaluating right-of-way needs is in DNR's hands, that department has all the mailing lists of involved parties and will be responsible for future public notifications, Heinze said.

Forty percent of the land through which the proposed spur line could run is in the hands of private property owners. Another 42 percent belongs to the state, or DNR. The Mat-Su Borough owns 1 percent, with the Mental Health Trust possessing 5 percent.

Of the 140 parcels along the spur line, acquisitions will be needed for 112 parcels. ANGDA would need to acquire three parcels from the borough. In passing through state land, which is considered eminent domain, 80 parcels would be affected.

Some of the other concerns expressed by landowners was that the area would become more accessible to the general public, and natural resources could therefore be depleted.

Although regeneration would be used to screen the pathway left by the pipeline construction, Heinze explained that ANGDA doesn't have control over management of lands.

Heinze also said that by making natural gas more available, the cost would eventually become more affordable.

The 148-mile pipeline will be constructed of ANSI class 1500 pipe with a 24-inch diameter, which will be buried a minimum of 30 inches below the ground, according to Robinson, who said the pipe may be buried fewer than 30 inches where there is bedrock. The pipe wall will be 1/2 to 1 inch thick, with the capacity for 2,500 pounds of pressure. Shut-down, or isolation, valves will be located no more than 20 miles apart to ensure safety.

One perk the community of Chickaloon will be provided when construction ends is an emergency medical facility that would be built to house an ambulance and deal with minor medical needs while construction is occurring. That facility would remain in the area.

Construction of the $362-million spur could begin as early as winter 2006/2007. Purchasing materials would account for more than a third of the cost, because of rising steel prices, Robinson said.

The first phase of the construction - after staging materials - will include the 69-mile segment of the spur line from Glennallen to Squaw Creek.

Construction would be a winter job because doing the work then would have the least impact on wildlife, such as birds and fish, said Marv Swink of Lynx Enterprises.

The construction project would put to work 500 employees, and those would be local hires, so a construction campsite wouldn't be required, Swink said. He said the project would use existing roads. A permanent access road would not be required.

In addition, the 20-foot swath that would be left above the buried pipeline would be revegetated with native Alaskan grasses.

A copy of the right-of-way application submitted to DNR by ANGDA ,as well as other related updates, may be viewed at www.jpo.doi.gov.