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Battlement Mesa pipeline under new ownership

Alex Zorn
  

Construction on a pipeline in Battlement Mesa will begin this week after the pipeline’s transition to new ownership was discussed at Tuesday’s Garfield County Commissioners board meeting. The pipeline had initially been owned by Ursa Operating Co. but has since been taken over by Summit Midstream. Summit Midstream will take control of the pipeline’s ownership, construction and operation.

A pipeline development permit was issued by the county in mid-October for the operation of the pipeline for Ursa, but with Summit Midstream taking over the board wanted to ensure that all of the rules and regulations that were agreed upon with Ursa carryover with Midstream.

“We are just making sure that Midstream continues upon the obligations and requirements that were placed on Ursa as the initial operator of that pipeline,” said Garfield County Planning Manager Tamra Allen. “Such as maintaining their operations and mitigation plans, making sure that vegetation bonds are placed in their name, making sure that we have emergency contact information, etc. So mostly administrative types of issues.”



Aside from ensuring that the board was notified of the ownership change, the transition was brought up at Tuesday’s meeting to outline everything that Summit Midstream is responsible for since taking over for Ursa.

“Summit Midstream has been putting pipelines in in the area over the last five years. That’s our expertise, that is what we are designed to do. … We’ll follow all those rules and regulations as they are very similar to the rules and regulations that we have followed in past projects in Garfield County.”Cameron BinghamSummit Midstream construction manager

The board wanted to ensure that information provided by Summit Midstream includes operations plans and mitigation plans, that Summit Midstream has provided a new re-vegetation bond to replace the one provided by Ursa, and that Summit Midstream has provided copies of its emergency response plans and emergency action plans. The board also wanted to ensure that Summit Midstream has provided an updated list of safety and emergency contacts, that all conditions of approval shall remain in effect, and that the applicant will continue to be subject to all federal, state and local regulations associated with the construction and operation of the pipeline.



“We wanted to make sure that you were aware of this transition occurring but don’t actually see a need for formal action at this point in time,” Allen clarified to the board.

Summit Midstream Construction Manager Cameron Bingham was at Tuesday’s meeting to address any further questions the board had.

“Summit Midstream has been putting pipelines in in the area over the last five years,” he told the board. “That’s our expertise, that is what we are designed to do, so we partnered with Ursa, and it will be a good relationship for both of us.”

“We’ll follow all those rules and regulations as they are very similar to the rules and regulations that we have followed in past projects in Garfield County,” he added.

Summit Midstream will begin the bore of the pipeline this week and begin the welding and stringing of the pipe over the next several weeks. By the end of January to the end of February Summit Midstream will be working on the pipeline construction for the D pad. The pipeline construction is expected to go through the end of June.


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