XCEL ENERGY ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER COMMERCE CITY CITIZEN’S CONCERNS

Commerce City – This evening, June 29, 2011, a large number of Commerce City residents and elected officials joined representatives from Xcel Energy at the open house held at Stuart Middle School. Xcel was there to answer questions and concerns about their “proposed” 24 inch natural gas transmission line they want to run through Commerce City from Ft. Lupton, down to their current Cherokee plant. That plant is being converted from coal burning to natural gas burning to generate electricity for the Denver metro area.

Xcel made a presentation about their perception of the pipeline’s safety and their timeframe. Public hearings will be held starting in September 2011 as they work thru the permitting process.

Some concerns that citizens had included the following: Xcel answers in red type.

Is fracking used to produce this gas? Xcel made it clear that they are not the producers of the gas, only the distributors of the gas.

Is the safety of water (which can be ruined by fracking) less important than clean air? Xcel said that the producers of the natural gas that they buy gas from are regulated.

Can we get the quantitative numbers from Xcel that you use to make the decision if an area to build a pipeline in is “densely populated”? Does Xcel consider future growth in those numbers? Xcel does not have quantitative numbers, so no real answer was given.

Since the pipeline would go on the west and north sides of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, how close would the “blast zone” be to Basin F (where the US Army has nerve gas buried)? Xcel did not know what Basin F was.

Have you spoken to the US Army and did you know this was federal land? Xcel said the Public Works department of Commerce City told them that it was all cleaned up and all the right away was okay.

How did you get this far in the project not knowing about Basin F? Xcel said that is why we have meetings like this one this evening, to get input from citizens.

Why was this route chosen? No real answer from Xcel, except that a final route has not been chosen.

Could you tell us why you cannot go down a highway? Xcel said CDOT won’t let them.

Could you tell us why you can’t avoid populated areas and go out by the airport? Xcel said DIA won’t let them.

You mentioned that there were shut off valves in case of an emergency. Do you shut the gas off before or after an explosion? Xcel did not answer this question.

One citizen asked why Xcel Energy is not investing in more wind farms, as Xcel already has some wind farms and it is 2011. Xcel said in response, "Have you driven out I-70 where they have huge wind farms? They are ugly."

Do you ever “google” natural gas line explosions? Xcel said they have pictures of explosions hanging in their office and they use them as a reminder for safety as they are very dramatic photographs.

Xcel did make a point of saying that most accidents happen when a third party digs without calling 811. They made a point of how careful they are to assist third parties that do call for a locator from Xcel, but the audience was concerned most about the ones that do not call 811 and just dig anyway.

Please leave your comments below and let us know what you think. Also please attend the meeting in Brighton tomorrow night. The meeting being held in Brighton tomorrow evening, June 30, 2011, is at Overland Trail Middle School, 455 North 19th Avenue, from 5 to 8 pm.

If you want to know more about the proposed pipeline visit the project website at xcelenergycherokeepipeline.com, call their hotline at 1-888-510-3644 or email them at info@xcelenergycherokeepipeline.com.