Land-use conflicts come down the pipeline

The TransCanada GTN System pipeline disturbed little more than orchards when laid across the Spokane Valley in the early 1960s.

But the suburbs spreading across the formerly rural area are bringing homes and other development up to right-of-way boundaries, raising safety issues as they do.

Greenstone Corp. developments have occasionally bordered or straddled rights-of-way owned by TransCanada, which operates pipelines that deliver natural gas from Alberta and British Columbia to Eastern Washington, Oregon and California.

Owner Jim Frank says his company has always worked well with TransCanada to assure the integrity of the pipes, and the safety of those who buy homes or businesses close by. But a dispute over conditions TransCanada wants imposed on future development of a commercial site in Liberty Lake threatens to strain the relationship.

And the city of Liberty Lake is caught in the middle.

Toledo Station, at this point nothing more than a marketing name, would occupy 150 acres between Mission Avenue and Interstate 90. About 1,000 feet of pipeline cross the property.

TransCanada has insisted on conditions that would require Greenstone or a future developer to obtain a “consent letter” from the pipeline company before any construction can occur within the right-of-way.

Frank says TransCanada will permit landscaping and paving above the pipes, but does not want to pay for their replacement should they be torn up to give crews access to the pipes.

But his greater concern is the willingness of Liberty Lake to let TransCanada dictate its conditions. If the city wants Greenstone to comply with regulations governing right-of-ways, Frank says, officials should take public comments on them before they are adopted.

“This is a matter of principle,” he says. “They don’t have that right.”

The conditions also apply to Bitterroot Lodge, a 228-unit multi-family housing development on the other side of Mission. The TransCanada 100-foot right-of-way goes right through the middle of the $20 million project.

As originally proposed, the project included a road that ran down the right of way, but it was eliminated at TransCanada’s request. The only remaining encroachments are roads that cross at almost right angles at either end of the development, a foot path, and a turnaround for fire trucks.

With those changes made, few other items remain contested.

Toledo Park development may take years. Frank says he does not want to accept conditions today that may tie the hands of any successor owners, or his own in the case of other projects.

“Who knows how these things are going to be applied 20 years from now,” Frank asks.

Changing times are precisely why TransCanada wants consent letters, says Steve McNulty, the company’s Spokane Valley-based lands supervisor. The terms of the easement granted TransCanada’s predecessor did not envision today’s contingencies or regulatory environment, he says, adding that consent letters are a longstanding company practice.

He says the company has never had a major accident or leak, but notes failures in other gas pipelines have been lethal, notably a August 2000 explosion in New Mexico that killed 12. Williams Northwest Pipeline, which operates in Western Washington, experienced two major failures in 2003 that did not cause any fatalities.

McNulty says most pipeline problems are caused by improper activity near rights-of-way.

Liberty Lake may not have regulations in place, he says, but the U.S. Department of Transportation does. TransCanada’s conditions assure compliance, he says.

Liberty Lake Planning Director Doug Smith says the city adopted TransCanada’s terms out of an abundance of caution.

“They’re the experts on pipeline safety, we’re not,” he says, adding that all parties are trying to strike the right balance between safety and private property rights.

Should Greenstone challenge the conditions as a “taking,” TransCanada has agreed to indemnify Liberty Lake for litigation and settlement costs.

No one expects the dispute to come to that. Officials from both companies and Liberty Lake continue to work toward a resolution.

“Everybody has the same interest here,” Smith says.

Meanwhile, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission has developed model land-use regulations for areas near the state’s 3,200 miles of major pipelines. Few, if any, cities or counties have adopted rules that could help avoid a standoff like that in Liberty Lake.

Not too far down the line, local officials might want to get to it.