From City of Portland notice
Kinder Morgan is requesting approval for the repair or replacement of joint sites at five different locations along an existing pipeline right-of-way in Forest Park. Kinder Morgan owns and operates an existing 115-mile refined petroleum products pipeline that runs from Portland to Eugene, Oregon.
Approximately 1.8 miles of the pipeline runs through Forest Park and adjacent right-of-way. The pipeline maintenance activities are proposed to occur in Spring 2024 after the close of the Northwest Hills Plan District annual soil disturbance moratorium (May 1).
The proposed pipeline work will require the removal of 58 to 75 native trees depending on final construction work areas and temporarily disturb a total of 39,060 square feet of area within the Environmental Protection overlay zone.
Kinder Morgan proposes to restore temporary disturbance areas and compensate for vegetation clearing caused by the construction activities by spreading native seed mix as well as planting native shrubs upon project completion. Further, the applicant intends to fully mitigate for the permanent impact of tree removal by paying into the Restore Forest Park Fund which is a restoration program run by Portland Parks & Recreation aimed at enhancing and restoring Forest Park’s natural resources.
All joint sites are within the City’s Environmental Conservation and Environmental Protection overlay zones within the City’s Forest Park Natural Resource Management Plan (Forest Park NRMP). The Forest Park NRMP includes a list of certain projects/actions that are in conformance with the NRMP, and which are allowed without a land use review. The NRMP does not specifically address the repair and replacement of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Therefore, this proposal is considered an “exception” to the NRMP and is required to go through a Type III Environmental Review. All sites are also within the Forest Park Subdistrict of the Northwest Hills Plan District and must meet the additional approval criteria for that subdistrict.
You can learn more at this City of Portland, Bureau of Development Services public notice – https://tinyurl.com/5n8n8vrz – including criteria for submitting comments, which must be received by April 24, 2024.