CONSTRUCTION STARTED ON CRUDE-OIL PIPELINE.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Workers are laying the initial segment of the planned 132 mile Pacific Pipeline near Santa Clarita, even though the entire crude oil transport system has not been approved.

A 15-foot-deep ditch has been dug along an extension of The Old Road north of Pico Canyon Road, and over the next week workers will install a 30-inch-diameter casing for the planned pipeline, project director Charles McLean said.

The 1,400 feet of line is being laid now before the new road is paved in an effort to avoid future traffic disruptions, McLean said. The work will take about three weeks and when the pipe itself is delivered next month it will be strung into the casing, he said.

The Pacific Pipeline, a partnership of Chevron, Texaco and Anschutz, is designed to carry heavy crude oil from fields in Kern County to refineries in Wilmington and El Segundo. The $170 million project was approved in March by the Angeles National Forest and in April the California Public Utilities Commission certified the environmental studies.

The city of Los Angeles has appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court. One concern cited is that the pipeline could rupture in an earthquake.

Pipeline officials say that the 20-inch steel pipeline would provide a far safer way of transporting 130,000 barrels per day than do current methods. Crude is typically transported by truck, train or sea tankers creating a potential for disaster.

``The feeling is we've spent five years on engineering and environmental studies,'' McLean said. ``The studies show that it would save 3 million pounds of pollution a year and save 13 to 18 lives. Right now oil comes by truck, train and tanker and that is far more hazardous.''

The segments of pipe are to be welded, creating a flexible structure which could withstand a major earthquake, McLean said. A crude oil line which runs roughly the same path ruptured in Santa Clarita and Granada Hills during the Northridge Quake and caused devastating damage including the destruction of homes in the valley and significant damage to the Santa Clara River.

McLean said the pipelines are of different construction and noted that the older line was installed about 70 years ago using different technology and workmanship.

Most of the pipeline would run along railroad tracks and through industrial corridors. Locally the line would follow the Golden State Freeway to the west. The current work is being done along a section of The Old Road between two new shopping centers under construction between Pico Canyon Road and McBean Parkway.

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Photo: (Color only in SAC edition) James Boshae supervisesthe dig for the Pacific Pipeline segment in Valencia. The project is being done along The Old Road north of Pico Canyon Road.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News