Pipeline Company Apologizes To Tribe Ad Makes Promises In Return For Resuming Fuel Shipments

Yellowstone Pipe Line Co. has published an apology for its environmental sins and is offering more than $1 million a year to regain its right of way across the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Not a chance, says Vice Chairwoman Rhonda Swaney.

“The repeated votes the (tribal) council has taken indicate that this decision is final,” she said. “They do not want to renew the right of way.”

Last week, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council reaffirmed its refusal and voted to begin dismantling the 41-year-old pipeline.

The pipeline, owned by Conoco, Exxon and Union Oil of California, carries diesel fuel and gasoline from refineries in Billings, Mont., to Moses Lake, Wash. Since April 20, each shipper has arranged truck or rail transportation around the reservation, either all the way to Washington or to Thompson Falls, Mont., for reloading on the line.

“The Yellowstone Pipe Line Co.’s environmental record on the reservation is awful,” Yellowstone said in a full-page advertisement in Friday’s edition of the Char-Koosta News, the tribal weekly.

The ad includes a promise to hire tribal members for pipeline inspection, to provide emergency vehicles for response to any spills and to place a Yellowstone pipeline employee on the reservation for oversight and monthly pipeline reconnaissance.

Then comes the money. The advertisement pledges two Yellowstone scholarships per year for tribal members, one in engineering and one in environmental sciences, plus summer internships for the students. Another $500,000 per year would be given the tribe for its land-purchase program and $200,000 per year would be donated for tribal cultural programs.

Per capita payments to tribal members would total $600,000 - $100 per member per year. The right of way payment would provide another $72,000 - twice the land value.

The company also suggested that its contract be renewed yearly so the tribe could “close the pipeline if we don’t fulfill our commitments to protect your lands.”

The ad says community meetings will be scheduled “to tell you more about the possibilities of an improved Yellowstone pipeline.”