Gas Pipeline Alternate Route Approved in Boulder County, Colorado

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

A bit of good news.  Yes, I know it's not actually BIG good news, but these days, ANY good news is better that the panic crap dropped on our heads daily by the Chicken Littles and the power grabbing politicians.

Gas Pipeline Alternate Route Approved

The Boulder County Commission conditionally approved the construction of a new eight-inch diameter natural gas pipeline about two miles long that will serve as an extension to the existing natural gas pipeline delivery system during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 26, 2020. The Tungsten Control Valve Station will also be constructed to service the new pipeline connection at the West Magnolia parking lot.  ...

 

... Owned, operated, and maintained by the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), an Xcel Energy company, the pipeline will run in the public right-of-way along portions of Colorado Road 132 and Highway 119 between the intersection of Magnolia Drive and Highway 119 and the Boulder/Gilpin County line. The U.S. Forest Service and Boulder County own the property.

Staff Member Summer Frederick said the applicants have ongoing cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the U.S. Forest Service for the location of the valve in the parking lot by West Magnolia Biking and Hiking trails and the intersection of Highway 119. Frederick said the pipeline extension will strengthen the ability to provide gas to surrounding communities and will provide a redundancy to the gas systems. 

The proposed alignment under review is part of a larger project that includes installation of about 15 miles of new six-to-eight-inch high-pressure natural gas pipeline in Boulder and Gilpin counties, including areas within the City of Black Hawk, CDOT Right-of-Way (ROW), and on the Roosevelt and Arapaho National Forests. The project is intended to increase gas capacity and reinforce the overall PSCo natural gas system by installing a new pipeline extension from the existing Louisville to Rollins Pass pipeline to PSCo’s existing system in Black Hawk.

Only the portion of the project within unincorporated Boulder County is included in this review. The project area is south of the Town of Nederland, between the intersection of Magnolia Drive and State Hwy 119 and the Boulder/Gilpin County line near Los Lagos Reservoirs Number 3. 

Previously, PSCo applied for a permit with a different alignment in Boulder County, located in a right-of-way along South Beaver Creek Road, Highway 72, and Road 97. This application was approved by the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners in August 2019. 

During installation of several miles of natural gas pipeline within Gilpin County and the City of Black Hawk in 2019, PSCo realized substantial challenges would be associated with the approved alignment in Boulder County. In Gilpin County, many residents live directly on South Beaver Creek Road or access their homes through local subdivisions only accessible via South Beaver Creek Road. 

Within Boulder County, the proposed realigned pipeline will be located in the Boulder County road ROW along County Road 132 and along the CDOT ROW on Highway 119. The proposed associated Control Valve Station will be located on about 0.2 to 0.3 acre of a parcel managed by the Roosevelt National Forest within Boulder County.  ...

 

... Minor features outside the roadway will include natural gas pipeline markers to identify that a natural gas pipeline is buried nearby, small cathodic protection stations and galvanic anodes (collocated with pipeline markers) to control the corrosion of the pipeline.  ...