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Goleta Planning Commission Signs Off on Pipeline Removal Project
Segments of obsolete oil and gas pipeline in western Goleta are scheduled to be removed next year, after the city’s Planning Commission gave its approval for the project Monday evening.
The commission voted 4-0 to allow the removal of a little more than 20 feet of unused ARCO-owned pipeline in city limits. The pipe removal is part of a larger project that includes removing unused oil and gas infrastructure from the oil company’s former ARCO Dos Pueblos oil and gas operation based in the Gaviota Coast’s Naples area.
Segments of a crude oil transfer pipeline crosses through Bacara Resort & Spa property, terminating adjacent to Venoco Inc.‘s Ellwood Onshore Facility.
While most of ARCO’s pipeline in Goleta was removed during construction of the luxury resort, some segments at Tecolote Creek and Bell Creek remained in place, and it was those segments that were the topic of discussion Monday evening, given their environmentally sensitive locations.
Work on the pipeline removal projects are proposed to take place next year sometime between July and November — pending acquisition of several permits — to limit the environmental impact of working in and near the creeks and to minimize the impact on birds nesting in the riparian areas. Biological monitoring will be performed during the projects, and vegetative restoration is planned afterward.
Removal of pipe in Tecolote Creek, the more sensitive area of the two and known as steelhead trout habitat, includes the use of hand tools and mini excavators to expose, cap and cut 5 feet of the pipe on each creek bank and to extract the pipe from the creek bed. Temporary access to the work area will come via a wood plank, while tools and other equipment will be lowered in via a crane installed near the Hollister Avenue bridge. The crane may be used if the mini excavator is unsuccessful at removing the pipe.
Vegetation in the area will be trimmed back to allow for access and workspace. In an effort to minimize construction impact, silt fencing will be installed only if necessary to keep dirt from falling into the work area. Temporary dams will not be used to control any water flowing through the creek at the time.
The entire project — from start to restoration — is estimated to take about a month.
Not every portion of the Bell Creek segment will be removed. Because of its proximity to the working Ellwood Onshore Facility, a portion of the pipe, which is exposed over Bell Creek as well as buried at its eastern bank, will remain in place and removed after the decommissioning of the EOF.
The Bell Creek project includes a process of locating, tapping, purging, cutting, excavating and removing the pipe. Other obsolete equipment associated with that pipeline, such as the hydrogen sulfide alarm and other ancillary equipment, also will be decommissioned and taken away. The work area can be accessed by an existing unpaved road along the western boundary of the Ellwood Onshore Facility.
ARCO estimates the work to take a little more than two weeks, in smooth conditions.
Generally supportive, public comments heard Monday evening called for environmental and archaeological awareness and sensitivity.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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