A proposed fuel pipeline would terminate at the Pioneer terminal in North Salt Lake. Property owners along the route are receiving survey notices from the company's attorneys.

HF Sinclair presented its Westline Connect proposal to the Salt Lake City Council at a work session Tuesday, Oct. 13. The project would expand the existing Pioneer Pipeline's capacity from 60,000 barrels per day to about 95,000, adding 35,000 barrels of refined gasoline to the Western market, KSL reported.

The draft route branches from the Pioneer Pipeline near the Weber River in Summit County, heads southwest near Interstate 80, crosses the Parleys Canyon watershed, runs through Emigration Canyon and turns northwest along Salt Lake City's foothills before ending at the North Salt Lake terminal, as Fox 13 reported.

The fuel would go to storage tanks near refineries in North Salt Lake or transfer to pipelines carrying product west to Nevada and California, according to KSL. HF Sinclair has said the project responds to refinery closures in California that have tightened fuel supplies in Nevada and California.

Drinking-water concerns

Salt Lake City staff told council members the proposed alignment could affect the city's primary drinking-water source-protection zone and aquifer-recharge area, including areas near the Little Dell and Mountain Dell reservoirs and the Parleys water-treatment plant.

Salt Lake City Council member Chris Wharton said at the Oct. 13 session, "I'm having a hard time thinking of a route that would hit more consequential sites than that."

After the nearly two-hour meeting, Salt Lake City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy told KSL the city had more questions than answers. City leaders issued a joint statement asserting the meeting provided no compelling benefits and plan to send HF Sinclair a list of formal questions.

Survey notices and pushback

Property owners along the proposed corridor are receiving Notice of Intention to Survey letters from attorneys representing Westline Connect LLC. The letters cite a Utah law that allows a company seeking to build an oil or gas pipeline to enter private property to survey a potential route, Fox 13 reported.

At least one property owner declined access. The notice stated Westline had informed the Summit County Sheriff of its plans and hoped law enforcement would not need to be involved.

Emigration Canyon officials said the company has not filed an application with the city, does not have a franchise to use public rights-of-way and does not have a conditional-use permit. The city told homeowners they may decline consent and request the company's legal basis for entry in writing.

Timeline and next meetings

HF Sinclair says the route is not final and the company is still gathering data. Construction is not anticipated until 2028, with completion projected in 2029.

Jeremy Price, HF Sinclair's senior government affairs manager, told the council the pipeline could lower gas prices by 30 to 40 cents per gallon during price spikes, according to KSL. HF Sinclair Communications Director Leslie Ellis told KPCW the draft route generally follows an existing utility corridor, which the company says would reduce environmental impacts.

Formal meetings on the proposal are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20, in both Emigration Canyon and Salt Lake City. No votes on approval are expected at either meeting. Save Our Canyons and other opponents are urging residents to attend.

As of Oct. 14, no public statement from North Salt Lake officials on the pipeline proposal has appeared in public records.