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Show By Jack Wallis wthough the Secretary of Interior lAndrushas called the May 19 four 'e U S. Supreme Court decision lv"ie Utah of rights to claim oil shale lands as in lieu ton lands "a miserable mistake," !i's seem doubtful the decision can n'ersed. Supreme Court ruled that there '"grossly disparate value" stan- Utah's claim to 157,000 acres of County oil shale lands in ex-lge ex-lge for 'ts land school grants. Supreme Court decision will cost hundreds of millions of dollars years in lease funds and ' J from oil shale lands. But even federal ownership of the land 6a" of the oil shale royalties will ,lun,ed to the state, federal control, Uintah County Wmore impact funding than it Wer state ownership of the oil lands because the state funds "mainly g0 into the state "''on fund. ?rrin Hatch pointed out his wtment in the Court's decision "8 't was the delay in energy ft"!n, 11131 concerned him. "I l Utah, if it received the land it feT'1, would develop the oil purees. The federal govern-IJttably govern-IJttably win if the t ta ;cation." Hatch also said, "The t 8vemment simply can't be with careful, prudent fc-vment and management of our I said Washington bureaucrats fT they lave t0- and then tW A l0St time they WU1 K)ta for econmic costs and ,. nentai problems. On the other . ls readv t0 be8in careful 4 V f its oil shale resource-lra resource-lra a better job than they can, t,le lreedom aspect back" ShUld ablC t0 g6t 'Hah County area has prospects for three to four oil shale projects and a couple of tar sands plants that could mean a $15 to $20 billion investment over the next 10 to 15 years. The impact that this kind of development would cause is frightening. We would much rather see a gradual growth than to be hit by it all at once. Right now, during the current recession, is when the area needs the economic stimulus that our oil shale and tar sand development will bring. The longer the development is forestalled the greater the cost and impact will be. The big bottle-neck to our local mineral energy development is title to the resource. If oil companies can be assured leases to the resource in sufficient suf-ficient quantities to justify their expenditures ex-penditures for technology and-development, and-development, our energy resources can be developed. But if lands are tied up in litigation claims and unrealistic environmental en-vironmental regulations, it is going to be a long time down the road before the real benefits from our rich oil shale and tar sand lands are seen. The off and on nature of oil shale and tar sand development is very frustrating to a community. Those involved must consider the benefits and plan for all the change that must be made to be ready for an influx of people and then face the uncertainties of the developments. What if it does not come? Why should the local residents and businesses get caught in the crossroads cros-sroads of fierce competition and get involved in the contest of nerves to see how much expansion is needed? Sooner or later, everyone will be involved. Taxpayers, homeowners, businessmen, employers and employees em-ployees will all be affected by the development of oil shale and tar sand in our immediate vicinity. The big question is when and how much. No one seems to have the answers but we expect a great change is on its way. |