FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 11, 2012
Contact: Art Raymond
801-547-2659

Public to Receive Pipeline Report Following 2010 Spills  
National safety advocate will present findings, recommendations
 
SALT LAKE CITY – Mayor Ralph Becker invites the public to participate in the presentation of “Pipeline Safety in the Salt Lake Valley” on Wednesday, Sept. 12 from 5:15-6:30 p.m. at the Chase Mill at Tracy Aviary, 589 E. 1300 South.
 
The report is the culmination of a public outreach and  education program called for by the Oil Spill Working Group, a panel of stakeholders and community members convened by the Mayor following two pipeline incidents in Salt Lake City near Red Butte Garden in 2010. Those spills, in  June and December, released tens of thousands of gallons of petroleum on University of Utah property and into nearby Red Butte Creek.
 
The report, funded by a grant from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA, a U.S. Department of Transportation agency), was executed to help provide the residents of Salt Lake City and surrounding areas a better understanding of pipelines that exist in the Salt Lake Valley and what potential risks they pose to the public.
 
Carl Weimer, Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety  Trust in Bellingham, Wash. conducted the survey and will present the report’s findings and answer questions at the Wednesday event.
 
Release of the report follows a series of public education efforts funded by the grant, including two, 2-hour “Pipeline 101” workshops held in Salt Lake City in March, 2012 and a two-day pipeline safety conference conducted later that month. The report, which includes input from those public meetings, addresses resident concerns and provides 19 recommendations aimed at enhancing safety.
 
Information from these meetings, and a full text of the report, can be found at http://www.slcgov.com/oilspill.
 
The Pipeline Safety Trust is a national pipeline safety advocacy group formed following a devastating pipeline accident in 1999 in Bellingham that resulted in an explosion that caused three deaths, burned 26 acres and released over 200,000 gallons of fuel into a waterway near the incident site.