Building oil and gas pipelines hits terrain and surrounding habitat as no other industry activity.
Sure, processing plants occupy large tracts of land. And drilling and production operations can do the same, for however brief a time.
But installing pipelines on land requires cutting paths across the countryside. There's no other way to do it. Pipelay crews rip through fields and forests, drill under or dig or blast across waterways and lakes.
And the changes to the land are permanent, of necessity: The cleared pipeline right-of-way must remain accessible for inspections and repairs. You simply cannot restore forest over a buried oil pipeline and hope to get to it when you need to.
What has been changing, however, are companies' attitudes toward that land. And that explains why pipeline companies and their service and supply partners often lead efforts not only to restore land as much as possible but also to protect and enhance land they never touch.
One of those movements in the US is the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership.
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Corporate lead
Its web site says CWRP is a "public-private partnership combining private industry contributions with federal and state matching funds to restore the nation's environmentally important wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems."
It began in 1999 in Massachusetts through the initiative of the Gillette Co., the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and the US Environmental Protection Agency, along with "nonprofit environmental and community groups and academia."
OK, OK: Gillette is not an oil and gas company, but wait.
In January 2000, CWRP expanded to the rest of New England under the coordination of Coastal America, a federal office representing 13 federal departments and agencies.
In May 2000, a press conference in Washington, DC, announced formation of the national CWRP with Duke Energy Corp. as national corporate chair.
Among state CWRPs, Duke Energy subsidiary Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline Inc. became the state leader for Maine; BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., for Alaska; and Duke Energy Gas Transmission, for Texas.
Not all corporate state sponsors are oil and gas companies, but note that a pipeline company has taken the lead.
The Texas CWRP kicked off earlier this year with Duke Energy Gas Transmission and ENSR International, an environment and remediation consultant, joining with other companies and state and federal agencies to return the area around the historic San Jacinto battleground, east of Houston, to is original 1836 appearance.
Why 1836?
In April of that year on the prairie marshland, an army of "Texians" under General Sam Houston caught a larger Mexican army under General Santa Anna—victor at the Alamo and executioner of Texian prisoners at Goliad—in the open and routed them, capturing the Mexican general.
From that victory was formed the Republic of Texas, which entered the union of US states 10 years later.
For many years, San Jacinto Battleground has been a state park, visited and trampled upon by thousands of visitors. Anchored nearby is the Battleship Texas, yet another attraction and another restoration tale.
The Texas CWRP plans to restore the prairie grasses, groves of trees, and marshes near the monument to enhance the historical ambiance of the site (see photo). The group kicked off its efforts last month with a volunteer day.
Turning a corner
No, it isn't the kind of activity that will excite your average environmental radical. And besides, it's tainted by corporate involvement—right?
In fact, however modest this project and incremental the national effort, these are just the sorts of activities oil and gas pipeline companies ought to target to validate their claims of being, well, friends of the earth.
Because they are. In the last few years, pipeline companies have turned a corner in their attitudes toward and involvement in efforts to remediate the damage their activities cause (OGJ, Aug. 18, 2003, p. 56).
And we all benefit.