On behalf of Colonial Pipeline, we want to say “Thank You” to Huntersville Mayor John Aneralla for hosting and inviting Colonial to participate in last week’s Community Meeting, and to the many agencies and response partners that also participated. We appreciated hearing from the residents who attended, and for providing Colonial an opportunity to listen, respond, and consider opportunities for improvement.
We understand that local residents have many questions. We respect – and share – the interest of residents to ensure the health and safety of their families and neighbors, and admire the great pride and sense of comradery in the Huntersville community.
Colonial echoes the sentiment, expressed by so many, that the first responders and local officials have done an incredible job, many of them working around the clock, to ensure a safe response.
To everyone who has participated in this response – “Thank You.”
OUR COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY
Colonial has been in the Huntersville community for more than 50 years. We are committed to working with the community, our response partners and our regulator, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to ensure the safety of residents and environmental protection – now and in the future.
The actions below outline our ongoing and sincere commitment to the Huntersville community.
Commitment to Health and Safety
We want to assure the community that, at this time, all data has indicated no detections of petroleum constituents in residential water wells
Nevertheless, Colonial is currently working with residents within a 1,500 foot radius with residential wells to execute a proactive strategy that should alleviate any concerns about access to drinking water. State rules, enforced by NCDEQ, set a broad radius to be as protective as possible to water supplies. If data indicates a need to expand the residential well sampling radius at any point in the future, Colonial will adjust as needed under the guidance of the NCDEQ.
Colonial is committed to using a data-driven approach, guided by geological modeling, to determine placement of the monitoring wells in order to strategically track any potential migration of product.
Colonial has installed 31 monitoring wells at a depth of approximately 30 feet and has recovered product from ten of those wells (“recovery wells”) to the southeast of the release site. Monitoring wells are not used for potable water and instead are specifically installed, as part of our response process, to monitor and remove product, if any is encountered.
When Colonial encounters product in a monitoring well, Colonial immediately begins product recovery in an effort to control and limit any further migration. We prioritize health, safety and environmental protection and are working to ensure residential drinking water is unaffected.
Commitment to the Environment
Colonial is committed to meeting all state standards as established by the NCDEQ for site remediation. We will continue to work with local partners to remediate Oehler Nature Preserve and will expand area partnerships as part of our ongoing Environmental Partners Program.
Environmental remediation is something we take very seriously. Not only does our pipeline run through this area, we also have employees who are members of, and take pride in, this community. Colonial is committed to restoring the natural environment of Oehler Nature Preserve and any other areas affected by our operational activities.
Colonial’s Environmental Partners Program establishes two-way dialogue and stewardship efforts with local environmental organizations. For example, Colonial has a longstanding partnership with the Catawba Riverkeeper.
Commitment to Ongoing Communication
Colonial is committed to providing consistent, factual information to the community. We are working directly with local residents who request information and we continue communicating directly with residents related to well testing.
As requested during the Community Meeting, we are sharing additional information now, and are continuing with our assessment process and incident analysis.
In addition, to provide more background about our company, we also are sharing resources currently available on our public website. You may also wish to visit colpipe.com for access to a wide variety of information.
- Pipeline Safety Brochure
- Gasoline Safety Data Sheet
- System Safety and Integrity
- Commitment to Continuous Improvement
Colonial also continuously updates our FAQ section to reflect answers to some of the most frequently asked questions and will continue to expand responses on this page as information becomes available.
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