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Show Coon to unveil charges; pipeline injunction filed By JUDY JENSEN Asst. Managing Editor BOUNTIFUL Coun-cil Coun-cil woman Renee Coon said Monday Mon-day she will pick up the gauntlet from Mayor Bob Linnell challenging challeng-ing her to unveil alleged Kem River pipeline improprieties, and opponents oppo-nents of the project said they have sought a federal injunction to stop construction. "Although the mayor said it was a request, the letter he sent me was actually a threat," said Coon. She will disclose information on at Wednesday's Bountiful City Council Coun-cil meeting, "not because I'm being threatened, but because I think it's an excellent opportunity," Coon said. The injunction to stop further construction of the Kern River pipeline was sought Friday in Washington, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "If we're successful, it will be fatal to the project. Kern River will have to find willing sellers, and there is too much opposition for them to find them," said Bountiful attorney Kenley B runs dale. The appeal, filed on behalf of local citizen's and environmental groups, requests all construction be stopped on the pipeline until the court rules on the charge that Kem River does not have the right to condemn property. Brunsdale said the sole justification justifica-tion to allow a private company to condemn private property for private gain is allowed only if "some government agency has said it is for the greater good of the whole. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, (FERC) has eliminated that step in approving approv-ing the Kem River pipeline," Brunsdale said. He added that removes the legal foundation Kem River has to condemn property. Brunsdale said an earlier appeal was pending in Nevada Federal District Court, where he filed a motion mo-tion to dismiss the condemnation action of Kern River. Kem River and the FERC have seven days to answer the injunction request filed in Washington. Brunsdale said he expects to hear the court's ruling by early next week. Kem River has not started any condemnation action yet in Utah, but the company has sent letters to property owners notifying them of upcoming condemnation procedures. pro-cedures. Brunsdale said the injunction request re-quest raises two other issues. Recent Re-cent "bulldozing of Indian artifacts" ar-tifacts" in southern Utah proves the Environmental Impact Study done by the FERC on the Kem River pipeline did not adequately address environmental impacts, he said. "The same thing is going to happen when they start tearing through watershed in Davis County," Coun-ty," Brunsdale said. A third critical issue, said Brunsdale, deals with a new decision deci-sion made by FERC three weeks ago to expand the services of the pipeline. The Kem River pipeline route begins in Opal, Wyo. and ends in Bakersfield, Calif. "We've always SEE PIPELINE ON A-3 Pipeline CONTINUED FROM A-l assumed it to be a 36 inch pipeline which would carry 700 million cubic feet per day at average pressure of 1200 pounds per square inch," said Brunsdale. He said the FERC has now given approval to all of the non environmental aspects of an interdependent project the Alta-mont Alta-mont pipeline. That proposed project pro-ject would be built from Wild Horse, Canada to Opal, Wyo. It too is a proposed 36 inch pipeline, designed to transport 700 million cubic feet of natural gas per day at pressures of up to 1400 pounds per square inch. "If this is approved, the Kern River pipeline would also carry not only Kern River gas but also Alta-mont Alta-mont gas, doubling the volume and the pressure without any new checks and balances. That means we'll have 1.2 billion cubic feet of the only odorless gas in Utah passing pass-ing through Davis County every day. That's twice the volume ever handled by Mountain Fuel," said Brunsdale. |