— from Janet Alderton —
Dear Councilors Stephens, Jarman, and Hughes,
I do not understand why one is not allowed to comment on the changes made to:
This document is found at San Juan County’s SMP Update website. It is titled “Shoreline Master Program Update San Juan County” on its title page. It is the second document from the top of the list of Program Documents at https://sanjuanco.com/smp/smpdocs.aspx.
The notice for Public Comments includes this document:
Notice of Public Hearing on An Ordinance Repealing Chapter 18.50 SJCC and Official Land Use and Shoreline Maps; Adopting New Shoreline Master Program Regulations, Official Land Use and Shoreline Maps, and a Shoreline Restoration Plan; and Amending Section B, Element 3 of the Comprehensive Plan and Chapters 18.20, 18.60 and 18.80 SJCC.
But, moving on to your statements made this afternoon that the following sentence, “5.6 Prohibit over-water facilities for the refining of oil.” will continue to prohibit underwater cross Sound oil pipelines.
From page 3 of the proposed changes to COMPREHENSIVE PLAN SECTION B, ELEMENT 3
“5.6 Prohibit the installation of underwater cross-Sound oil pipelines and on-shore or over-water facilities for the refining of oil.; these uses are inconsistent with the protection of the island ecosystems. (Prior 7 Code 16.40.303 policy 13)”
Firstly, the sections that are stricken refer to underwater pipelines that are used for the transport of oil; this is separate infrastructure from facilities for the refining of oil.
Secondly, I have searched for any connection “over-water facilities for the refining of oil” might have with submarine oil pipelines. Have not found any. Maybe you can help me out. Your usage here seems to be obscure. If you defined your language in the document, it would help. But I strongly feel that just using normal English is a better way to communicate.
I have searched for definitions of over-water and overwater using Google and found the following:
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
Overwater
adjective
Pronunciation: /ˈōvərwôtər/ /-wätər/
Situated or taking place above water: the airline is to initiate long-haul overwater operations
I did not find “over-water” defined.
In all my experience with oil and gas pipelines, submerged pipelines that cross water bodies are known as underwater or submarine pipelines. I have found a few “above water” pipelines and they are all in the air above water.
My Google searches yielded the following:
“underwater oil pipelines”
About 886,000 results (0.38 seconds)
“underwater pipeline”
About 960,000 results (0.38 seconds)
“submarine pipeline”
About 537,000 results (0.40 seconds)
Submarine pipeline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A submarine pipeline (also known as marine, subsea or offshore pipeline) is a pipeline that is laid on the seabed or below it inside a trench.[1][2] In some cases, the pipeline is mostly on-land but in places it crosses water expanses, such as small seas, straights and rivers.[3] Submarine pipelines are used primarily to carry oil or gas, but transportation of water is also important.[3] A distinction is sometimes made between a flowline and a pipeline.[1][3][4] The former is an intrafield pipeline, in the sense that it is used to connect subsea wellheads, manifolds and the platform within a particular development field. The latter, sometimes referred to as an export pipeline, is used to bring the resource to shore.[1] Sizeable pipeline construction projects need to take into account a large number of factors, such as the offshore ecology, geohazards and environmental loading – they are often undertaken by multidisciplinary, international teams.[1]
A search for “over-water pipeline” gives results such as
Lawsuit settlement over water pipeline in works | Memphis …
memphis.suntimes.com/…/lawsuit-settlement-over-water-pipeline-in-works
Sep 10, 2015 – GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A settlement appears close in a lawsuit filed over a pipeline that would transport water to and from the Nolichucky …
This is one of 3 “hits” that refer to the same news story. In this example, “over-water” and “over water” are used differently from your use of the words.
A search for “overwater pipeline” without the hyphen gives 5 results -all of which are describing pipelines in the air above water. For example:
Cancer-causing chemicals detected in Yellowstone River …
Jan 20, 2015 – … segment isolation and requirements for additional pipe thickness or stainless steel pipe construction for overwater pipeline bridge segments.
Therefore, I request that you either define your words so that the meaning is clear or restore the crossed out sections. I prefer the latter.
“5.6 Prohibit the installation of underwater cross-Sound oil pipelines and on-shore or over-water facilities for the refining of oil; these uses are inconsistent with the protection of the island ecosystems. (Prior 7 Code 16.40.303 policy 13)”
And to further protect our marine environment, please add language to prohibit underwater cross-Sound natural gas pipelines and on-shore or off-shore facilities for the production of Liquefied Natural Gas.
Thank-you for taking on the difficult work of updating the Shoreline Master Program.
Sincerely,
Janet Alderton
P.O. Box 352
Deer Harbor, WA 98243
360-376-3905
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Go Janet!
Yes, we want clear language added to the new Shoreline Master Program that states that no underwater pipelines will ever be laid in San Juan County.