Talking Points: Pipeline Construction Issues

Construction of Pipelines will cause tremendous inconveniences and dangers to landowners:

1. Ground Surveys. The process of conducting field surveys involves several steps. Generally, each property will be visited by various specialists in engineering, cultural and environmental sciences. These may or may not be concurrent visits but should not last longer than one or two days each. Survey crews typically move through a given area in about a week. Some properties may need to be revisited to obtain additional data.
2. After the survey teams are finished, there will be survey stakes and/or ribbon tied to fences or vegetation.
3. On land where brush, bushes, or other landowner landscape encountered, crews may need to cut some of this vegetation to maintain the line of sight.
4. Some surface disturbance may be required with hand tools for cultural resource surveys.
5. The civil survey (and any uncompleted environmental surveys) would be completed and the construction right-of-way would be marked/staked for the clearing crew. (the construction right-of-way can be between 125 -200’)
6. The clearing crew would remove any trees or brush within the right-of-way that would interfere with construction.
7. Temporary erosion control devices (ugly black or orange fabric held up by stakes) would be installed as required.
8. Next, the right-of-way would be graded using bulldozers and other heavy equipment.
9. Topsoil would be separated from subsoil in agricultural/residential areas.
10. Heavy equipment, such as backhoes, large trenching machines, and excavators would then dig the trench (which can be as deep as 6.5’ – 11’ depending on ground conditions). In areas where bedrock is near the surface, blasting may be required. Some of our topography is rich in limestone and shale which will most likely require blasting near homes.
11. Homeowners’ children and pets will be at danger due to the equipment and the trench which will left open for some period of time.
12. The pipe would be delivered to the right-of-way in segments (called joints). Large trucks would be required for this.  The pipe will initially stacked and later laid along the trench.  All this takes its toll on local roadways which can fall on the tax payers to fix.
13. The pipe would be bent to fit the trench and welded together. Welding produces fumes.
14. The trench would be back filled and if topsoil was removed it would be returned. Backhoes and skid loaders would be required for this.  They make noise and burn diesel fuel.
15. The right-of-way would be regraded, seeded, and temporary and permanent erosion control devices would be installed.