Buckeye tosses wrench at pipe plan

 

Transwestern Pipeline Co. wants to build the natural-gas pipeline through Buckeye's planned development boom along Sun Valley Parkway.

The 259-mile underground pipeline would run from Ash Fork in Coconino County, south through Yavapai and Maricopa counties and into Pinal County.

Federal regulators were pitched the idea in 2005 as a way of serving the Phoenix area's growing natural-gas needs, the company said.

But Buckeye officials say they are bearing the brunt of the project and the project's danger to future residents outweighs the benefits.

Officials and residents in other areas, including Casa Grande, Prescott Valley and Pinal County, are worried the route comes too close to existing and future developments.

But federal staff members considered eight other alternatives for the Phoenix Expansion Project. Most were dropped because of environmental and safety concerns or construction restraints.

Tamara Young-Allen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the government has safety standards for pipeline projects, which often are set beside current or future developments.

Because of concerns, the staff will again review the $711 million project.

Buckeye wants the energy commission to choose a route that would skirt nearly 15 miles of existing or planned developments along the parkway. "The reason we are looking for an alternative route is because almost every inch of Sun Valley Parkway has preliminary or final plat approval for homes and other development," Buckeye Mayor Bobby Bryant said.

"To put a 36-inch gas line 3 feet under the ground isn't a safe environment for anyone," Bryant said.

Subscribe to the Tucson Citizen