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Show .... t f j I li I ; f ' i - i 1 An inspector at Napa Pipe Corporation, Napa, Calif., inspects the interior of a joint of 36-inch steel pipe manufactured manufac-tured for the 904-mile Kern River Gas Transmission Company pipeline. The project, a joint venture of Tenneco Gas and The Williams Companies, Inc., will ship 700 million cubic feet of gas per day from southwestern Wyoming to southern California. Pioeline construction begun in So. Utah workers building the Utah segment of the system alone will be paid $178 million in wages and will spend $27 million buying goods and services. Contractors will need to buy another $6 million worth of materials while in the state. The project should generate $14 million in state income tax and about $2 million in sales taxes for Utah. Technology of the computer- and satellite-controlled system will allow operators to use "real time" monitoring of the pipeline throughout its length, said Lonnie Newton, manager of pipeline engineering. engi-neering. U.S. manufacturers are supplying the valves, some 50,000 horsepower of turbine driven compression, com-pression, and the steel pipe, which I By PAUL CHALL1S BOUNTIFUL Construction on the Kem River pipeline, expected ex-pected to zig-zag through Bountiful despite citizen protests, has ready begun 300 miles to the south, in the desert outside of St. George. TTie largest U.S. natural gas system in nearly a decade, the $934 million project is expected to bring massive volumes of Rocky Mountain Moun-tain and Canadian gas to California. The Williams Companies, Inc., Tulsa, Okla., and Tenneco Gas, Houston, Texas have a joint venture in the creation of the Kem River Gas Transmission Company project of the 904-mile line that has been six years in the planning stages and clearing regulatory hurdles. Company and government officials offi-cials claim the Kem River pipeline with the northern half of the system to be built next summer and fall when the weather is drier and warmer, said Harold Gillit, manager of engineering. During construction, some 400 to 500 people will be assigned to each spread, generating needs for housing, hous-ing, food and supply concession.s. Each spread should take about four months to complete, Gillit said. Associated Pipeline Contractors, Houston, Texas, and H.B. Zachry, San Antonio, will build spreads five and six. Associated also will build spread two. Others building segments of the pipeline are Hood Corporation, Whittier, Calif., (spread one); Gregory & Cook, Houston (spread eight) and Sheehan Pipeline Construction Co., Tulsa, Okla., (spreads four and seven). These companies will assemble 676 miles of 36-inch pipe from near has walls more than four-tenths and 7 six-tenths of an inch thick. Newton said the system is engineered engi-neered to overcome a myriad of technical challenges, like geologic faults in the earth, and more than 100 specific environmental issues, such as protecting the desert tortoise, tor-toise, plant life and archaeological finds. "We said when we started we were going to build a state-of-the-art system Newton said. 'Too many people misuse that term, but in every conceivable way that is exactly ex-actly what we are building." Kris Hohenshelt, manager of environmental en-vironmental services, said every precaution is being taken to preserve the areas. Trained, federally fed-erally licensed "handlers" will tend to the tortoises, and on-site archaeologists ar-chaeologists will chart routine finds to ensure that no significant artifacts ar-tifacts are damaged Special digging and reclamation techniques also will be used to minimize erosion and restore vegetation growth in the construction construc-tion areas, including the rare procedure pro-cedure of protecting the seed bed in the desert for plants such as mes-quite mes-quite and creosote bush. "One growing season or two and most of the visual impact of construction con-struction will be gone," Hohenshelt said. "Then the system will quietly go about its job." Company officials estimate . - 1 ' I V(S t ' " 1 ' p r""A'""-lT x ' ' i '? " N I ' , i SPREAD 3 lT$-- X" " ( ! sfBfAD4 f I ".r.,'v - f r--- I-- V , KEBN RIVEfl GAS TRANSMISSION j .1 fortu' 1 J i - I-- r-V. X SPREADS X T I " T f N ' SPREAD 6 jy? Opal, Wyo., to a point just east of Barstow, Calif. From there, 121 miles of 42-inch line will split into two 30-inch laterals, one running 55 miles and the other 48 miles. The 42-inch segment will be jointly owned and operated with Mojave Pipeline Co. Kem River and Mojave, in an agreement reached reach-ed earlier, will share capacity on this segment, but charge competing rates. Mojave is to build this segment seg-ment and has selected a contractor. not only will boost development of western North American energy reserves, re-serves, it also is expected to generate ge-nerate millions of dollars beyond its cost into local economies along its route, improve California's air quality and provide employment during construction for more than 2,000 people. The pipeline should transport 700 million cubic feet of gas per day from southwestern Wyoming to south-central California by early 1992, said Kem River President E.J. Holm. There, the gas will serve a wide range of uses, but primarily will be used by enhanced oil recovery producers in Kern County, Calif., said Kern River Executive Vice President Cuba Wadlington Jr. Financially, the Kern River pipeline is a stand-alone project Tenneco and Williams jointly will provide equity amounting to 30 percent of the project's cost, and Kem River Gas Transmission Co. will finance the rest Once construction is complete, Kern River will permanently employ about 75 people. Its administrative ad-ministrative offices will be in Houston; its construction, operations opera-tions and gas control center will be at 295 Chipeta Way in Salt Lake City, and it will have compressor stations in Muddy Creek, Wyo., Fillmore and Goodsprings, Nev. "We have spent lots of time and energy just to get to this point," Wadlington said. "The sheer magnitude of this undertaking presents many exciting logistical challenges." He said the Kem River pipeline that will connect to the Northwest Pipeline, will benefit towns near its route, which winds through mostly rural desert and mountainous terrain. ter-rain. The project will be built in eight "spreads" or segments, ranging from 61 to 112 miles in length. The spreads in southern Utah, Nevada and California will be built first, |