Coos pipeline changes course.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

NORTH BEND - To the relief of some Coos County residents, and the concern of some oyster farmers, a 223-mile natural gas pipeline is now planned to run underwater until it leaves the Coos Bay area.

The initial route picked by Williams pipeline company of Tulsa, Okla., began at the Coos Bay North Spit and traveled through expensive residential properties in the Glasgow area, just across the bay from North Bend.

That worried people in Glasgow, who are concerned that the construction could erode steep area hillsides or that the completed project could put them in a hazard zone.

But company spokeswoman Michele Swaner says now that the preferred route will avoid Glasgow - if not other residential areas farther down the line - and be drilled beneath the bay until it's in the southern edge of the county.

That decision came about after a meeting with local oyster growers, Swaner said. They'd been troubled that a pipeline in the bay itself could disrupt sensitive beds vital to their enterprise. But the company found a way to avoid such areas, she said.

Grower Lili Clausen said her problems with the underwater route remain, however.

"It's a worrisome thing," said Clausen, who farms 720 acres. "My husband and I are concerned that during construction, the sediments will be stirred up."

But the new route is welcome news to Wally Culp, whose golf course was on the old route.

"Cool," Culp said. "That's darned good news."

Glasgow resident Lisa LaGesse remained a bit skeptical, however.

"I'm a little bit leery about whether it will come to fruition," LaGesse said. "They did announce it had been moved out of Glasgow once before, and within a week, the surveyors for Williams were back up here trespassing on people's land and continuing their survey. ... I still believe the pipeline belongs in California."

While the new route isn't set in stone, Swaner said she is "fairly confident" that it won't change again.

Winston Ross can be reached at [e-mail].