Written by Amber Skinner | 03 March 2010

On a frigid morning last month, a dozen people gathered to acknowledge what had begun nearly two weeks before: the removal of the Navy's petroleum pipeline, which runs over seven miles from Mitchell Field to the Brunswick Naval Air Station, and the eventual return of full property rights to those along the pipeline's trail.
The pipeline was needed to transfer jet fuel from what was then called the Defense Fuel Support Point - Casco Bay (DFSP) in South Harpswell. When it was installed in 1952, the Navy required a 30-foot easement and right-of-way from approximately 115 property owners in Harpswell and Brunswick to build and maintain it. Although the pipeline was taken out of service in 1991 and the DFSP property returned to the Town of Harpswell 10 years later, the Federal Government has maintained its control of the trail, with the pipeline still intact.
The pipeline consists of 6-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch sections of steel pipe, covered in a tar exterior coating and fire-resistant asbestos wrapping, and is buried underground at varying depths. A large, concrete scraper pit, at one time used to access and clean the pipeline, is located about one mile from Mitchell Field.
In 2006, a Pipeline Easement Advisory Committee was formed by Harpswell's Board of Selectmen "to get the pipes out of the ground," Committee Co-Chair Len Freeman said. The Committee members have worked with representatives from State and Federal offices and, at the groundbreaking, appeared pleased with their combined efforts and resulting outcome. "This shows our government at every level is doing things. Good things are happening," Freeman continued.
The contract for the work was awarded by the Navy to Charter Environmental out of Wilmington, Mass., with a bid of $3,172,220. The project is expected to take about one year to complete.
At the groundbreaking, the section of pipeline between Independence and Tommy Cod lanes had already been removed. Two Charter employees were present at the event, and said, so far, the job was running smoothly. "The goal," Navy Construction Manager Jim Gallant explained, "is to remove 200 to 300 feet of the pipeline a day, but that will vary depending on the season."
Because the 30-foot trail has been essentially untended since 1991, some "clearing" will "be necessary to allow movement of excavation equipment and haulers to transport the removed sections of pipeline," according to the contract's synopsis.
Avoiding any potential danger to the environment and health of nearby residents is critical to the project. Once the removal is complete, soil samples will be analyzed and site restoration undertaken.
Although many locals currently use the trail for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and walking, "the right-of-way is only for the Navy," Freeman said. "It is not a public right-of-way." So once the easements are released, property owners may choose to close the trail to the public.
"Because of these easements, property owners can't do anything they want on their land. They can't build on it, they can't put up fences," Freeman explained. "But once the easements are extinguished, those affected will get their full property rights back."
For more information, contact Harpswell Town Administrator Kristi Eiane at 833-5771.