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nearly on top of gas pipelines, noting the dangers of leaks or ex- plosions, and the city’s liability. The owner/operator of the pipe- lines, Kinder Morgan, had a “ter- rible safety record” at that time, with one councilman noting 44 violations in the previous three years.


Railroad wrong of way Aside from the inherent risk of building houses next to aging gas pipelines, the council also found that there were “too many houses for the space,” line-of-sight is- sues for existing residents, and insufficient parking. The rejected developer subsequently sold the right of way to Rudy Murrieta, an Orange resident. Now, Murietta has enlisted lo-


cal developer Roger Hobbs to resurrect the housing plan for the property. Hobbs is dealing with the “too many houses” issue by reducing the number from six to five, but the same neighbors who attended city council meetings and hammered on the pipeline safety issue in 2007 are prepared to make the case again. “It was a bad idea in 2007, and


Foothills Sentry


look like, a spokesman for Roger Hobbs says the builder is simply exploring the potential for devel- opment at this time. “We’re just doing community outreach to see if this is a good fit,” Brian Loch- rie said. “No paperwork has been filed with the city.” Lochrie also points out that the


empty site currently attracts the homeless and drug users, which a housing project would displace.


Tight squeeze “They’re talking about put-


Photos by Tony Richard


it’s a bad idea now,” says Dottie Ronan, who lives directly behind the proposed houses. “Nothing has changed, and if anything, it’s gotten worse.” By worse, she means the conditions of the gas pipelines. While federal and state requirements are in place to en- sure pipelines are monitored and maintained, Ronan’s independent research indicates that they are not.


Thar’ she blows The Pipeline Hazardous Mate-


rials Safety Administration, cre- ated by the Department of Trans-


portation to regulate underground pipes at the state level, has been criticized for “lacking effective- ness and oversight.” Regulators do not inspect pipelines, but in- stead, depend on documentation supplied by the system owners. And this system owner, Kinder Morgan, has a reputation for playing fast and loose with regu- lations, preferring not to spend money to comply with federal standards, but to simply pay the fines when it gets caught. Since 2003, the company has been re- sponsible for at least 180 spills, evacuations, explosions, fires and fatalities in 24 states. Thirteen major incidents involving leaks or explosions have been reported since the City of Orange original- ly opted for safety over housing back in 2007. While the new proposed devel-


opment has been given a name – the Old Orchard – and residents who attended an informational meeting on the topic were given sketches of what the houses will


ting five 2,900-sq.-ft. houses on 7,000-sq.-ft. lots,” Dottie Ronan reports. “And a 10-foot-tall block wall to separate the new homes from ours.” The houses would be built in a 400-ft. wide “bulge” in the right of way. The buildable space is not large enough for a cul de sac, so Hobbs is envision- ing a hammer-shaped dead-end instead. Ingress/egress would be via a private drive off of LaVeta. When researching pipeline reg- ulations, Ronan found guidelines for development recommended by the pipeline safety adminis- tration. “The recommendation is not to erect any structure – not even a garden shed – within 25 feet of the pipeline,” she says. “Houses should have at least 50 feet of clearance. The developer claims his plans allow for that, but I measured the property, and I don’t see how that’s going to work.” Ronan accepts that many of the existing houses within the neigh- borhood lie within 50 feet of the pipeline. “These houses were built in the 1960s,” she says. “They did a lot of things then that we wouldn’t do now. Today, we know better.”


Tuesday, September 1, 2015


Residents urged to


register for AlertOC


September is National Pre- paredness Month, and residents and businesses are encouraged to register with AlertOC, to prepare for any calamity that may occur. AlertOC is the county’s mass


emergency notification system, a critical link for residents to im- mediately learn of any required actions, such as evacuating their homes during an imminent fire. On Sept. 24, more than two mil- lion Orange County residents will receive a call to test Alert OC.


The drill will replicate a large


scale, multi-jurisdictional emer- gency requiring thousands of numbers to be called simultane- ously across Orange County’s entire region. This is the sixth an- nual regional test of the system, and will include 24 participating cities as well as the county’s un- incorporated areas. The distinctive feature of Alert


OC is the ability to register more than one contact method at a spe- cific address. Registrations of cell phone and alternate numbers dramatically increase the abil- ity to reach the greatest number of community members within minutes. This enables landlines, cell phones and e-mail addresses to be incorporated into a single notification system. Residents can register their


cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses at AlertOC.com.


Buried gas pipelines run down the middle of an old railroad right of way that the property owner wants to retrofit with houses.


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