HF Sinclair confirmed Thursday, Oct. 1, that the publicly owned 910 Ranch will not be part of any proposed route for its Pioneer Pipeline expansion through Summit County.

The announcement directly addresses concerns Summit County officials raised in September, when planning staff warned the pipeline could cross the conservation-easement-protected property and potentially violate a federal grant agreement.

HF Sinclair Communications Director Leslie Ellis told KPCW in an email that the company has no plans to include the 910 Ranch in any proposed route, as first reported by KPCW.

Summit County completed its purchase of the 8,588-acre ranch in January with $40 million from the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program and $15 million from the county's open-space bond, according to TownLift. Voters approved that bond in 2021. A conservation easement protects the land.

County civil attorney Lynda Viti told Snyderville Basin planning commissioners in September that a pipeline crossing the ranch could conflict with the county's grant agreement. Community Development Director Peter Barnes said at the commission's Sept. 14 meeting that an existing pipeline route already crosses the property.

Barnes had urged the company to consider alternatives. "One of the conversations we've had is, rather than follow the easement that directs you through the 910 Cattle Ranch, it would be a lot easier if you paralleled [Interstate] 80 through some of those sections and followed that route," he said at the Sept. 14 meeting, as KPCW reported Sept. 25.

HF Sinclair now says it is working with local governments to route around sensitive areas and conservation easements. According to county staff, Parleys Canyon is one alternative under consideration.

The Dallas-based company co-owns the Pioneer Pipeline with Phillips 66. The pipe currently runs 12 inches in diameter from central Wyoming to the Summit and Morgan county line at Interstate 84, then narrows to 8 inches. HF Sinclair wants the full line at 12 inches, which would boost capacity from 60,000 barrels of refined oil per day to about 95,000.

HF Sinclair first announced the expansion evaluation in October 2025, calling it Project Westline Connect. The company has said the first phase targets a 2028 start, pending board and regulatory approvals. It has not published a route map and describes the project as still in the evaluation stage.

Under Summit County's Snyderville Basin Development Code, a hazardous-liquid pipeline must go through the conditional-use permit process. Barnes told commissioners the project would be expected to follow that path, giving the county a chance to attach conditions to mitigate local impacts. Barnes said the county cannot veto a pipeline route outright.

No formal application has been filed.

HF Sinclair has not said when it expects to finalize a route through Summit County.