Public hearing scheduled to examine pipeline study

The day when Las Vegas has two sources of gasoline -- instead of one -- is getting closer.

A public hearing is scheduled for Thursday on the environmental study for the UNEV Pipeline project. The proposed pipeline would bring gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Salt Lake City-area refineries to Las Vegas and Cedar City, Utah.

Holly Energy Partners of Dallas and Sinclair Transportation Co. are developing the 400-mile, $300 million pipeline. The 12-inch buried pipeline would carry 62,000 gallons of fuel from refiners in north Salt Lake City to a planned terminal on 53 acres at the Mountain Industrial Park north of Las Vegas and a separate distribution terminal at Cedar City.

Southern Nevada now gets almost all of its motor and jet fuels from the Calnev Pipeline, which runs from refineries in California.

The UNEV pipeline would be a "second straw," bringing fuel to Las Vegas and eliminating the risk that a temporary shutdown or accident could interrupt the flow of fuel here.

In addition, the UNEV Pipeline will introduce new competition to the local fuel market, potentially driving down the cost of gasoline and diesel. Holly operates a refinery that is adapted to process sour crude oil, which has a higher sulfur content than sweet crude. That would enable Las Vegas drivers to use gasoline from oil drilled in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States and Canada.

Holly Corp. Vice President Jim Townsend said he did not know of any group contesting plans to build the pipeline. And pipeline developers have lined up enough shippers to make the project feasible, he said.

"We have designed for additional volume as we believe Southern Utah will continue to grow, as will Las Vegas and our system will be used more and more with time," he said in an e-mail.

He expects the project to be complete in 2010.

The Bureau of Land Management will hold an open house on the project from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at the BLM Las Vegas field office, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.