I am fortunate to be part-owner of the archaeologically rich Lower Ranch in Utah's Nine Mile Canyon. Labeled "the world's longest art gallery" by National Geographic, Nine Mile contains North America's highest concentration of pre-historic rock art; its 700-plus recorded archaeological sites span 8,000 years.
Over the past several years Nine Mile has received a lot of attention due to the deposits of natural gas under the adjacent Tavaputs Plateau and their development by Bill Barrett Corporation (BBC). As property owners in the canyon we worked with a wide variety of organizations and dedicated individuals to minimize the impact industrialization will have on this national treasure including our historic ranch. We've never opposed the development of BBC's leases, only advocated that it be done responsibly and managed from a genuinely multiple-use perspective. These efforts have been fairly successful and genuine compromises have been made. But our private property has now become a target of the natural gas industry.
BBC has announced its intention to condemn a three-quarters mile long pipeline easement through our property. This action will ruin our irrigation and haying operations. It may jeopardize priceless archaeological resources. This pipeline was not included in the project's final environmental impact statement or the resulting decision. We find it suspect that such a major delivery mechanism would be left out of the planning process. We believe it was intentional. This omission denied us (and the public) the legal channel through which to voice our concerns — precisely what the environmental impact statement process is intended to provide.
In an effort to protect our property from this condemnation and garner public support, we launched a website detailing our history with BBC and their current intentions. So far it has generated nearly 400 public comments that have been sent to the governor's office, the BLM and BBC. (www.heartofninemile.com)
On May 25th we received a letter from BBC suddenly demanding two new pipelines instead of one, and the astonishing right to install as many more as they deem necessary in the future. We were given 48 hours to accept or our property would be condemned. Fortunately the governor's office stepped in and we were given an additional five days to respond.
Moreover, BBC's rush to take over our land is entirely premature. Proposed pipelines across federal lands that would be required to connect to the proposed pipelines on our property have never been approved. In fact, BBC's initial application was rejected by the BLM as inadequate. Additionally, none of the many studies required of the BLM, such as the surveying of alternate routes, cumulative impacts, etc., have been completed. Yet BBC is free to threaten and bully us.
How can this happen?
Remarkably, Utah law gives private corporations the authority to condemn private property. Eminent domain procedures can begin without any government agency verifying that industry's decision to condemn private property is reasonable or even necessary.
Our property is surrounded by public lands containing alternate routes that would keep these pipelines off our property and out of Nine Mile entirely. BBC has already built and upgraded hundreds of miles of new and existing roads and pipelines on the plateau, yet they now claim that any alternate route for these new pipelines would be environmentally irresponsible. This is a shallow charge, and BBC's letter of intent to condemn openly admits that the central reason for going through our property is that it is simply cheaper.
We ask the governor to take responsibility to ensure that this project does not unnecessarily and unfairly trample the private property rights of its citizens. We ask that the BLM hold private industry accountable for the full scope of their projects. Private property owners and the public should not be allowed to be bullied and forced by a private corporation to make personal and financial sacrifices simply to fatten the profits of private industry.
Jerry Vaculin lives in Holladay.