Oil flowing again in Chevron's pipeline

Paul Fraughton | The Salt Lake Tribune The valve station on the Chevron pipeline near Red Butte Garden's Amphitheater on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. Chevron's accident-prone oil pipeline was turned on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., and, with an army of employees keeping watch, company spokesman Mickey Driver reported everything going

Paul Fraughton | The Salt Lake Tribune The valve station on the Chevron pipeline near Red Butte Garden's Amphitheater on Tuesday, February 1, 2011. Chevron's accident-prone oil pipeline was turned on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., and, with an army of employees keeping watch, company spokesman Mickey Driver reported everything going

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Paul Fraughton | The Salt Lake Tribune The valve station on the Chevron pipeline near Red Butte Garden's Amphitheater on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. Chevron's accident-prone oil pipeline was turned on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., and, with an army of employees keeping watch, company spokesman Mickey Driver reported everything going "as planned." Driver said crews first used nitrogen to purge the pipeline and keep it stable and pressurized. They then released oil from eastern Utah's Hanna pump station to run down through the pipeline, which ends at Chevron's Salt Lake City refinery. Cameras, upgraded surveillance protocol and roving human patrols all are in place to monitor the line that leaked 54,600 gallons (1,300 barrels) of crude last year in two spills that occurred six months apart near Red Butte Garden along Salt Lake City's east bench. The pipeline capacity is 45,000 barrels a day, though the line averages 21,000 to 24,000. Driver notes it will be "sometime" Wednesday before the oil flow is back to regular strength. Derek P. Jensen Paul Fraughton | The Salt Lake Tribune The valve station on the Chevron pipeline near Red Butte Garden's Amphitheater on Tuesday, February 1, 2011. Chevron's accident-prone oil pipeline was turned on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., and, with an army of employees keeping watch, company spokesman Mickey Driver reported everything going "as planned." Driver said crews first used nitrogen to purge the pipeline and keep it stable and pressurized. They then released oil from eastern Utah's Hanna pump station to run down through the pipeline, which ends at Chevron's Salt Lake City refinery. Cameras, upgraded surveillance protocol and roving human patrols all are in place to monitor the line that leaked 54,600 gallons (1,300 barrels) of crude last year in two spills that occurred six months apart near Red Butte Garden along Salt Lake City's east bench. The pipeline capacity is 45,000 barrels a day, though the line averages 21,000 to 24,000. Driver notes it will be "sometime" Wednesday before the oil flow is back to regular strength. Derek P. Jensen

The Salt Lake Tribune

· February 1, 2011 9:45 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Chevron's accident-prone oil pipeline was turned on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., and, with an army of employees keeping watch, company spokesman Mickey Driver reported everything going "as planned."

Driver said crews first used nitrogen to purge the pipeline and keep it stable and pressurized. They then released oil from eastern Utah's Hanna pump station to run down through the pipeline, which ends at Chevron's Salt Lake City refinery.

Cameras, upgraded surveillance protocol and roving human patrols all are in place to monitor the line that leaked 54,600 gallons (1,300 barrels) of crude last year in two spills that occurred six months apart near Red Butte Garden along Salt Lake City's east bench.

The pipeline capacity is 45,000 barrels a day, though the line averages 21,000 to 24,000. Driver notes it will be "sometime" Wednesday before the oil flow is back to regular strength.

Derek P. Jensen