SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Texas oil company is suing a Utah county over its new ordinances imposing restrictions on underground pipelines.
Tesoro Corp. based in San Antonio wants to build a 135-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from the Uinta Basin to Salt Lake City refineries.
But the company, in its lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, alleges Summit County's three new ordinances will block any pipeline in the county.
Among other restrictions, no pipeline can run within 2,500 feet of any wetlands, natural creek, pond, river, reservoir, school or other high-use building, or within 500 feet of other structures.
The suit says the ordinances interfere with the U.S. Forest Service's role in approving an acceptable corridor for the pipeline.
Summit County Attorney David Brickey told The Salt Lake Tribune (https://bit.ly/1nwZB55 ) the county thinks the ordinances are appropriate and fair, and will aggressively defend the county council's decisions.
