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Oil Shale Dev\.\..opment in West A "- ~ o , To The Denver Post: I AM WRITING this laffar with regard to Mr. SIeve Wynkoop's (Denver Post Staff Writer) article on this subject in Sept. 17 issue. I want 10 focus the readers' atten- tion toward some facts of proposed oil shale development. First, never before In the history of U.S. mineral development have environmental control measures been so stringent as they will be lor the proposed oil shale leasing program in the slales of Colorado. Utah. and Wyoming. Second. Mr. Wynkoop's statements are somewhat distorted from the actual draft environmental statement. Let us now ex~ amine what h~ said: l-"Dams storing waler sulllcient for a half million persons ~ay need 10 be constructed. . . to supply 0,1 shale processing plants"; 2-"Power plants with cumulative generating capaci- ty as large as the giant Four Corners Plant in New Mexico would need to be constructed to power the size oil shale in- dustry the Interior Department believes will exist by 1985"; 3-"By 1984, 1,100 persons will be killed as a direct result ot a limited government-private industry's COOperative oil shale program"; 4-"A ruptured shale oil pipeline could dump a maxi~um of 3,500 to 14,000 barrels of oil" etc. First, th9 proposed oil shale develOp- ment would consume approximately as much water as would be needed by about a hall million people, but most or all or this water may be available from mine dewatering, retorting and refining pro- cesses (Page 11I-35, Vol. I). Up to 13 mil- lion gaUons of water per day could bo pumped from each tract (Of 5,120 acres) used for oil shale mine development (Page 11I-28, Vol. I). 'lj o r:" , ) . A Second, all of the electric power need- ed lor the oil shale development may be produced on sile from several small power plants scattered in an area the size at West Virginia, or transmitted from an outside source. Unlike the giant Four Corners Power Plant, however, the new power plants will be built to 1969 Environ- mental Protection Act for Clean Air Quali- ty Standards. With regard 10 the statement that 1,100 persons will be killed as a direct result of a government-private oil shale program: With the enforcement of existing mine safety laws and the introduction of new teChnology, about 150 fatalities could be expected during the 12-year period Irom 1974 to 1985 in underground oil shale mines. It is, of course, unfortunate that even Ihese fatalities might occur, but most industrial accidents are caused by human errors and could be prevented. I shaH describe here word lor word what was said in the Draft Environmental Statement with regard to oil leaks due to accidental ruptures in pipelines. "Each linear mile of an la-inch pipeline will con- tain about 1,400 barrels. In the event 0' I rupture, only the oil contained aboVe the point of break may leak out. Since the ter. rain over which pipelines may pass is generally rolling, the oil contained in some 5 to 10 miles of pipe may be re-. I .?;>:J~ .)