Formal letter to Ron Wenker from Great Basin Resource Watch

The proposed route (above) will traverse across Northern Nevada, through undisturbed land, and will have damaging impacts on areas of envirnmental and cultural significance.  Click on the map for a larger image.

California will be the beneficiary of the natural gas while Nevada will bear the majority of the negative environmental and cultural impacts.  The damaging impacts could be avoided if a route was chosen along existing corridors such as Interstate 80 and the West-Wide Energy Corridors.  It appears that El Paso Corporation is avoiding California at all costs, possibly due to stricter environmental laws in California or because the cost to do business is higher in the Golden State.  Or...maybe El Paso Corporation wants to avoid California because they were found gulity of manipulating the natural gas energy market in California during the 2000-2001 energy crisis which resulted in blackouts and soaring natural gas prices in California.  This Class Action suit resulted in El Paso Corporation paying the state of California $1.7 billion over the next 20 years.

Regardless of the reason to why El Paso does not traverse through California, the fact that El Paso does not use existing corridors will result in devastating environmental effects on, but not limited to, Greater Sage Grouse and its habitat in northern Nevada.  The proposed route will also traverse directly through areas of cultural significance to Native Americans.  This is evident where the proposed route will go directly through Barrel Springs in northern Washoe County, which is a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) boundary of the Fort Bidwell Indian Community, and is thus potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. 

Ruby Pipeline L.L.C. has not provided a satisfactory explanation to why other less environmentally damaging alternative routes were not fully studied.  Why is the West-Wide Energy Corridor (WWEC) being disregarded as an alternative route when the Federal Government has allocated substantial time and money to it?  The Ruby Pipeline Project is a perfect example of a project that should utilize the existing energy corridors!  In addition to the WWEC corridor, Ruby Pipeline L.L.C. has neglected to offer a thorough examination of other routes such as the Black Rock, Sheldon, and Interstate 80 routes.  Not only does Ruby Pipeline L.L.C. need to report on why they prefer their proposed route, but they are also required by law to report extensively through detailed analyses on why they have not chosen other alternative routes.  A paragraph or two in the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) explaining why these alternative routes were eliminated is not acceptable.  In addition, The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 states that in managing the public lands the Secretary shall, by regulation or otherwise, take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of the lands.  In light of the alternative routes, the proposed route does cause unnecessary and undue degradation of undisturbed public lands.

Interstate 80 Alternate Route.  Click on map for a larger image.

West-Wide Energy Corridor Alternate Route.  Click on map for a larger image.

As witht the Sierra Club, we would like to see the pipeline follow an alternate route (highlighted in blue above) that will have less severe environmental and cultural impacts.  Click the map for a larger view.

In addition to the route concerns, the final EIS, issued on January 8, 2010, is inadequate and incomplete.  Environmental and cultural reports continue to be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  These reports should have been include in the final EIS as required by law.  Most disturbing to the cultural studies shortfall is the fact that government-to-government consultation with native tribal communities has been limited to nonexistent.  This lack of consultation is a violation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.  The lack of consultation with native tribal communities is also a direct violation of Executive Order 13175 which directly addresses consultation and coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, and President Obama's Order of Transparency and Open Government in which Obama states "we will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration".  However, neither tribes nor conservation groups were consulted regarding the proposed pipeline route.  Consultation would have alleviated many concerns.

So, please take a moment to download, sign, and mail the letters at the top of this page to slow down this fast paced process!