At their meeting earlier this week, the Yucca Valley Town Council heard of plans which could bring a major crude-oil pipeline right through our pristine Morongo basin. Managing editor Tami Roleff has details……
The Yucca Valley Town Council heard a presentation at its meeting Tuesday night about the Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Oil Conversion Project. By 2016, the Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company proposes to transport up to 120,000 barrels of crude oil per day from New Mexico to Los Angles, and that oil could be going right through the Morongo Basin. The Southern Trails pipeline currently carries natural gas 485 miles from New Mexico to Essex, California, and the pipeline would need to be converted to transport crude oil. A 96-mile section, that is not in service at this time, runs from Whitewater to Long Beach. Southern Trails is studying two routes to connect the two pipelines. One route would follow an existing SoCal Gas pipeline, which runs right through the Morongo Basin. The other route would follow a BLM-designated utility corridor that goes south around Joshua Tree National Park to Interstate 10 east to Whitewater. The company is conducting land surveys for both routes. For more information about the pipeline project, visit the Town’s website at yucca-valley.org, or call Steve Chapman at 801-324-5548.
