12-16 IAN Lemon on Ruby

 Local officials are trying to enlist Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to turn back a deal a pipeline company made with some environmental groups to buy up federal grazing leases along the route of a gas pipeline being built from Wyoming to Oregon.

Cache County Executive Lynn Lemon, who with officials of four other northern Utah counties is calling on Herbert to deal with El Paso Corp., builder of the 680-mile Ruby Pipeline  because in their opinion the governor has more clout. Here’s Cache County Executive Lemon: “This is just extortion as far as what Ruby Pipeline did with Western Watershed because they said we paid Western Watershed this because we didn’t want them to sue. We didn’t want to be stopped and delayed by Western Watershed but another environmental group sued them from Arizona and they didn’t pay them any money out. I’m wondering why did Ruby Pipeline ever enter into this agreement? Western Watershed’s doesn’t take any of this money to improve the environment.” That’s also how cattle ranchers feel. They have been sued endlessly by Western Watersheds over grazing rights.