The Central Arkansas Water Commission approved the purchase of 150.5 acres in the Lake Maumelle watershed for $4,000 an acre Thursday.
Watershed protection manager John Tynan said the property was important because it boasts one-third of a mile of road access, as well as a tributary to Reese Creek, which is the second largest tributary to Lake Maumelle. The property, located near Hundley Road in Pulaski County, will also connect two other Central Arkansas Water properties that are now separated.
Centennial Bank owns the property and acquired it in a foreclosure lawsuit, he said.
Central Arkansas Water will be making a down payment of about 50 percent on the more than $600,000 property, Tynan said, and the remaining will be financed over two years. About half of the down payment will come from the utility’s Watershed Protection Fund, and the other half will come from a state Game and Fish Commission lease payment.
Tynan said Central Arkansas Water wants to protect the land from development.
“When we own property, we can manage it for water quality,” he said.
Tynan said the availability of properties that Central Arkansas Water is interested in purchasing ebbs and flows. But the goal is usually to protect the land and the water, he said.
Also Thursday, Tynan spoke about unanswered requests for information from Exxon Mobil in the aftermath of the rupture of its Pegasus pipeline.
About 13.5 miles of the Pegasus pipeline run through the Maumelle Lake watershed, he said. The company wants to know what exactly caused the 100,000-gallon spill in Mayflower so it can evaluate the risks and be prepared, he said.
“We want to ensure that the water in the watershed is safe,” he said.
Central Arkansas Water CEO Graham Rich said oil from the pipeline has the ability to contaminate the water quickly.
“Depending on where it is in the watershed, if [the pipeline] breaks, say, crossing over a tributary, then it’d already be in the water,” he said.
Tynan said Central Arkansas Water representatives have met with Exxon representatives, including once on June 18, requesting information relating to the integrity of the portion of the pipeline in the watershed. The representatives expressed the desire to work with Central Arkansas Water, he said, but questions remain unanswered.
An independent laboratory’s findings on the damaged pipeline section were sent to Exxon and to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Wednesday. Exxon announced that the Mayflower spill was tied to a manufacturer defect dating back to the 1940s, but did not provide specific situations or conditions that could have contributed to the defect.
The federal agency has declined to release the report, saying it is a part of an ongoing investigation, Tynan said.
The Central Arkansas Water board also approved three contracts - one with Building and Utility Contractors for water main replacements, one with J.W. Hearvin for the relocation of water mains in the way of work being done on Scott Hamilton Drive and one with S4 Water Sales and Service LLC. for improvements at the Ozark Point Water Treatment Plant.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 07/13/2013