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SALT LAKE CITY -- The crude oil pipeline that runs through the foothills east of Salt Lake City is operating again, under a promise of much improved supervision.
It is gratifying that Chevron Oil Company has worked hard to satisfy the very reasonable demands made by Salt Lake City and County, to see to it that all that can be done, is done, to ensure against another leak.
Chevron deserves significant credit for its quick response to the first leak last June, and for its "spare no expense" cleanup effort. Likewise, the company was quick to respond to the second spill in December.
Chevron has remained keen to the high stakes public relations component of this problem as well, cooperating with officials in an open fashion, eventually calming the nerves of two mayors who legitimately asked whether the pipeline was safe enough to reopen, period.
Nervousness aside, the fact remains, the pipeline crosses watershed that serves more than a million people - federal pipeline regulators refer to it as a "high-consequence" area, a term that screams understatement.
The company's promise of close monitoring and surveillance is comforting, but it begs the question of whether previous monitoring efforts were less than adequate.
While all parties deserve congratulations for working together to address the problem, KSL believes it would be foolish to consider the problem solved.
After two incidents of pipeline failure in six months, it's important that the company, federal regulators and local governments, commit to a permanent vigilance, and continued cooperation, to assure against an incident number three.
E-mail: cpsarras@ksl.com
