Milford Council agrees to draft support letter for Beaver County appeal of Pine Valley pipeline decision
Loading...
Summary
Beaver County representatives urged Milford to join an Interior Board of Land Appeals filing after the BLM issued a final EIS and record of decision approving a Pine Valley‑to‑Cedar City pipeline; councilors asked for draft language and agreed to return a letter by early April but made no funding commitment.
Beaver County representatives told the Milford City Council on April 1 that the Bureau of Land Management’s recent final environmental impact statement and record of decision for a proposed 66‑mile pipeline to Cedar City were issued with too little time for technical review and leave important harms unaddressed. The delegation asked Milford to sign a standing declaration supporting an Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) filing and to provide a formal letter of support by April 1.
“BLM allowed them to do exactly what they wanted to do to install that 66‑mile pipeline from Pine Valley to Cedar City and start pumping the 15,000 acre‑feet,” a Beaver County representative said, arguing the FEIS and the record of decision were rushed. A second county representative said the agency’s cumulative‑effects modeling “completely excluded essentially all the existing pumping that is going on here,” a point the visitors said undermined the FEIS’s scientific integrity.
The visitors flagged specific local impacts: the FEIS itself modeled up to a 14% reduction in flow at a named spring used by a landowner, and the county representatives said the project could dry Tule Springs and contribute to downstream stress on the Great Salt Lake basin.
Council members asked procedural questions about standing, timing and possible financial support. Staff was asked to receive draft language for a standing declaration; the visitors said they would prepare suggested wording and send it to city staff (Mikaela) so the council could review the document quickly. One representative said other counties in the coalition have already pledged financial support (White Pine County was mentioned as contributing up to $20,000) but councilors did not approve any city appropriation at the meeting.
The council indicated it would work with staff to get a letter on file; a city official asked the visitors to send proposed terminology and the visitors said they could have a standing‑declaration draft ready in time for an IBLA filing the following week. No formal city appropriation or commitment of legal fees was made during the session.
The council’s immediate step was administrative: city staff will accept draft language for a standing declaration and bring the matter back to council for any further action or budget consideration.