Precautions set up for Stanley pipeline segment
Part of a planned oil pipeline will have thicker pipe walls and be buried more deeply because of its proximity to the city of Stanley and a new Mountrail County Fair building, state regulators said Thursday.
BISMARCK (AP) — Part of a planned oil pipeline will have thicker pipe walls and be buried more deeply because of its proximity to the city of Stanley and a new Mountrail County Fair building, state regulators said Thursday.
The 2-mile segment will be buried 72 inches underground, instead of 36 inches, Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer said.
It is part of an Enbridge Corp. expansion project that will increase the company’s ability to transport crude oil to refineries by more than 145,000 barrels a day.
Cramer said it was difficult “to find a reasonable alternative (pipeline route) without either going further into town, or out into some what would be some fairly sensitive wetland areas.”
The Mountrail County Commission has endorsed the changes and supports the project, said its chairman, Arlo Borud.
“We worked extensively with Enbridge personnel and ultimately approved this route,” Borud said in a letter to the commission. “We believe the extra safety precautions ... (are) in the public’s best interest.”
The new county fair building will be used for fair events and will not be continuously occupied, and some nearby property already has a number of utility facilities, Borud said.
“This is not a county park or recreational area,” he said.
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