The U.S. State Department has determined a proposed multimillion-dollar Pemex gasoline pipeline from El Paso to Juarez would have no significant impact on the environment.

A presidential permit to allow the pipeline to cross the U.S.-Mexico border could be issued in early September if no federal agencies object to the issuance of the permit, said Elizabeth Orlando, a State Department official in Washington, D.C., who oversaw the project's environmental assessment.

A Pemex subsidiary, PMI Services North America, expects construction to take about six months once the presidential permit is issued, according to the environmental assessment. Orlando said the pipeline also needs other local and federal permits for construction.

Darryn Tollefson, vice president of business development for PMI in Houston, said the company had no comment on the State Department's finding, or the project's next steps.

The environmental assessment was prepared by Raba-Kistner Consul tants and Mustang Engi neering for PMI and reviewed by State Depart ment officials before the agency issued its finding late Thursday.

Twenty-eight miles of the pipeline will run through El Paso County, mostly in the Lower Valley, and 21 miles will go through Juarez.

James Ivey Sr., a Lower Valley pecan farmer against the proposed pipeline, said the assessment "was a very superficial study" which did not address the safety concerns of people who live near the pipeline. "We feel the government doesn't listen to you anymore," Ivey said.

State Rep. Chente Quintanilla, D-El Paso, who is against the pipeline, said he and others will contact several federal agencies in hopes of convincing at least one of them to object to the presidential permit for the pipeline.

The State Depart ment received no objections from federal agencies during the review and comment period for the assessment.

Quintanilla said he would talk to Lower Valley residents about the possibility of taking legal action to try to stop the pipeline.

El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos, who has opposed the pipeline with other members of Commis sioners Court, said, "The (State Department) decision is not in the best interest of the community. There were some significant environmental issues. It's next to a school, and through some populated areas."

Cobos said Commissioners Court would wait for an opinion from the county attorney's office before taking action.

PMI said the pipeline is safer than using trucks to haul fuel between El Paso and Juarez. The assessment estimated the pipeline would eliminate about 64,000 truck trips per year between the two cities.

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Pipeline facts --The proposed Pemex pipeline would start at the Longhorn Partners Pipeline terminal at 13551 Montana near Zaragoza Road in far East El Paso County, go to the San Elizario area in the Lower Valley, and cross the Rio Grande into Juarez, where it will run an additional 21 miles to a Pemex terminal.

--It would have the capacity to deliver 45,000 barrels of fuel per day to the Pemex terminal, the project's environmental assessment reported.

--The fuel would come from Europe and be shipped from Houston through the Longhorn Partners Pipeline.

El Paso Times reporter Erica Molina Johnson contributed to this report.

Copyright (c) 2008, El Paso Times, Texas. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.