The last time a major oil spill hit one of the waterways near Emigration Canyon in 2010, it took years to clean up and even longer to sort out in court.

That history, along with other environmental concerns, has some Emigration Canyon homeowners worried about the prospect of putting an expanded fuel pipeline through the area.

The concern comes as oil refiner HF Sinclair studies potential routes in and around the canyon to expand its Pioneer Pipeline, which carries refined fuel from Wyoming into Utah.

The expansion is part of the company’s Westline Connect project, which also includes plans to expand its separate UNEV Pipeline from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.

At an Emigration Canyon City Council meeting last Tuesday, resident and environmental and bankruptcy attorney Brian Rothschild was among several people who pushed back against the proposal.

“We, I think, are in a little bit of too sensitive an area,” Rothschild said. If the project moves forward, he added, it should undergo an “unbelievably thorough” environmental review.

The canyon plays a key role in the region’s water supply. Salt Lake County designates a portion of the area above Burrs Fork as a protected watershed, part of a network of canyon and mountain areas in the county that supply drinking water.

Jeremy Price, HF Sinclair’s senior manager for government and public affairs, presented the proposed expansion to council leaders for the first time last Tuesday, where he stressed the project is still in its early stages and a pipeline route hasn’t yet been chosen.

The company also hasn’t applied for permits or received any approvals for the project yet.

Survey crews and land agents began collecting data and talking with property owners Friday as the company studies potential routes, Price said.

The existing pipeline runs from a refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, through “mountainous terrain” to a terminal on the north side of Salt Lake City, Price said. It’s jointly owned by HF Sinclair and Phillips 66, which operates the pipeline.

It’s already operating at capacity, Price said, moving about 60,000 barrels of fuel a day. HF Sinclair wants to add another 35,000 barrels a day, he said, bringing the total capacity to about 95,000 barrels.

The Dallas-based company said in a statement Friday that the project is still in the evaluation stage. The company is looking at upgrades to existing infrastructure, including pipelines, refineries, terminals and pump stations, across the Mountain West as fuel demand outgrows the region’s existing pipeline network.

That growth has left producers “more reliant on truck transport,” the company said, adding to traffic and congestion on roads.

HF Sinclair added that it would build and operate the projects “safely” and “responsibly,” with environmental protection and input from communities considered through each phase.

Earlier this year, lawmakers also signaled support for expanding fuel transport under HB3, which includes a goal of moving 1.4 million more gallons a day by 2028.

At the City Council meeting, however, Rothschild questioned what benefit the proposed expansion would have for the community.

“What is the upside for people who live in the canyon?” he asked during public comment. “There’s no jobs coming in for this. There’s no economic benefit that I can discern ... And there’s this unbelievably large potential downside.”

Roughly 16 years ago, two different spills sent more than 54,000 gallons of crude oil into Red Butte Creek, which later spread to Liberty Park pond and the Jordan River.

The 2010 spills sparked years of lawsuits, including one between Chevron and Rocky Mountain Power that was settled in 2017 and another filed in 2018 by a man who alleged exposure to the contaminated creek contributed to his cancer.

For this latest proposal, residents can share feedback or concerns with the company at westlineconnect@hfsinclair.com.