Abstract: The Olympic Pipe Line Company proposes to construct and operate a common carrier petroleum products pipeline from Snohomish County to the city of Pasco, Washington. The project is proposed as a response to growing demands for refined petroleum products in eastern Washington from refineries in western Washington and would replace the existing system of barging and trucking the same petroleum products to central and eastern Washington. The approximately 230-mile line would include up to six pump stations and a products terminal adjacent to I-90 near the town of Kittitas. Construction of the line would take at least one year and would take longer if construction windows are required to reduce impacts to fish and wildlife.

The project as proposed responds to requests from shippers for a less expensive and more direct means to transport refined petroleum product from western Washington to central and eastern Washington. Major environmental concerns include construction impacts at stream and river crossings and across approximately 17.1 acres of wetlands; risks to surface and groundwater as a result of construction or of a spill; spill risks from the pipeline during operation of the line; spill risks from trucking and barging if the line is not built; use of public lands and the impacts and precluded uses thereof; and potential effects on threatened and endangered species during construction and operation.