Amoco Oil is clearing its crude-oil pipeline right of way through Davis County, moving or destroying anything in its path, including homeowners' fruit and shade trees.
The clearing could affect thousands of residents from South Weber to North Salt Lake during the next five years, the Deseret News has learned.Amoco crews began slashing a 28-foot-wide swath at the mouth of Weber Canyon last week. Workers knocked on homes in the area Thursday, warning crews would begin Monday cutting any vegetation that was on the company's 58-foot-wide easement.
Workers have already cut or marked for cutting fruit trees, shrubs and bushes, large firs, pine and elm trees and plants such as raspberries and grapes.
Homes nearer than 25 feet to the pipelines could be demolished, but Amoco officials insist that won't happen in Utah, though it has occurred in other places throughout the nation, said Michael L. Hayden, senior right-of-way agent.
The right of way, granted in 1939, covers two pipelines originating in Evanston, Wyo., and strung to refineries in North Salt Lake.
The lines enter more populated areas in Utah at the mouth of Weber Canyon, then parallel U.S. 89 on the road's west side and run south through South Weber, Layton, Kaysville, Centerville, Woods Cross, West Bountiful and North Salt Lake. The lines are buried 4 feet deep and vary from 1/4 to 3/4 of a mile from U.S. 89.
Crews will clear the easement atop the lines through South Weber to Hill Field Road in Layton this year. They'll return next spring to clear "as far as we have money for," eventually finishing at the end of the lines in North Salt Lake, Hayden said.
The move has shocked South Weber residents, many of whom will lose expensive and sentimental landscaping. (Please see accompanying story.) And they say the worst is yet to come as Amoco moves farther south into heavily populated areas.
"All hell is going to break loose when they get up there," said resident Lori Drake, referring to property owners with high-priced homes in east Layton and further south.
Hayden said Amoco must keep its easement clear of anything that would prevent crews from spotting or fixing a leak in the lines.
"We have to be able to access those lines to protect the public and the environment," he said. "We're required by government regulations to do so. And it's within our easement rights."
Residents can find out whether the Amoco easement crosses their property by title reports issued when they bought their home. Yellow poles with red or fluorescent markings also show where the lines are buried.