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Show FEBRUARY 22,2007 THE GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER PANGUITCH CITIZENS CONCERNED ABOUT PROPOSED COAL MINE A large group of residents from Panguitch and the surrounding area showed up at the city council meeting on Tuesday, February 13th to voice their concern over the proposed Coal Hollow Project. One by one they took their allotted three minutes of time during the "Citizen Comment" portion of the meeting to express their many and varied concerns about how the proposed open pit mine will affect the area from Alton to Cedar City. The BLM is currently gathering comments from the public in preparation for the Environment Impact Statement (EIS). The project has not yet been approved nor the land leased to Alton Coal Development, LLC. The proposed mine would be a 20 year project on both BLM and private land about 3 miles south of Alton and 10 miles from Bryce Canyon Natl. Park. The double-trailer coal trucks would travel north on Hwy. 89 through Hatch and Panguitch to Hwy. 20, west to 1-15 then south to exit on 200 North in Cedar City, then west on Hwy. 56 to the railroad. The coal is low-sulpher and does not burn as hot as more metallic coal, making it less valuable and unsuitable for sale overseas. It will be burned at power plants in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. The project is proposing 153 round trips per day, 24 hours per day, 312 days per year. In other words, 306 times per operating day, and night, double-trailer coal trucks will be passing through Hatch, Panguitch and over Hwy. 20. Some of the concerns expressed were: • Damage to the roads from 4.8 million tons of additional truck traffic and resulting inconvenience and danger of constant repairs. • Loss of tourism resulting in closed businesses and decreased tax revenue. • Loss of income for motels along the highway as tourists are kept awake all night by the trucks. • Danger to people pulling out of or into their driveways along Hwy. 89. • Danger to children, bicyclists and tourists along the highway and on the city streets • Danger for kids crossing Center St. to and from the high school and library. • Pollution of the Sevier River and other waters by coal dust and heavy contaminants, road dust, truck exhaust and coal dust. ...by Peggy Egan, Panguitch • Inconvenience and danger of being behind a coal truck every time you travel either way on Hwy. 20. • Disruption of deer and elk migration routes. • Loss of habitat and more animals killed on the highway. • What is the vision for the future of Panguitch; are we going to be a coal town or a quaint, historic town that encourages tourism. • Loss of Bryce Canyon's famous dark sky from nighttime operations at the mine. • More accidents at Hwys. 14 & 89, Hwys. 89 & 12 and on Hwy. 20 involving coal trucks. • Further damage to the historic red brick homes along the hwy. due to increased truck traffic vibration. • Danger to neighborhoods when coal trucks are detoured through them when Main and Center streets are closed for parades and festival events. • Traffic delays when the double trucks try to make the right turn from Center St. onto Main St. and have to use the oncoming lanes to complete the turn, Summer traffic making the left turn from Main St. to Center St. is very heavy and having trucks using the oncoming left turn lane will not only be dangerous but will back truck traffic up significantly, Trucks may start using residential side streets to avoid the congestion at Main and Center. • Loss of lifestyle caused by non-stop heavy trucks, dirt, dust and pollution. • Render meaningless the new National Historic District designation for Panguitch and the new Mormon Pioneer Heritage Highway designation for Hwy. 89, the All American Hwy. designation for Hwy. 12 and the pending Scenic Hwy. or All American Hwy. designation for Hwy. 143; all the effort and money spent to make this area a destination is wasted when tourists are annoyed and endangered by the trucks. • More road grit plus coal dust for businesses and homes on Center and Main to deal with. • Added pollution when the coal is burned and less incentive for power companies to find cleaner alternatives. Alton Coal Development, LLC is projecting 50-150 jobs. Many speakers expressed doubt that Hatch or Panguitch would see any significant increase in employment citing such reasons as: • Alton is counting on most jobs to be filled from their town and Kane County is sure to push for the jobs to come from their own county. • The trucking company is an outside, independent firm who's terminal will be in Cedar City so it is unlikely qualified truck drivers will live in Panguitch or Hatch and commute back and forth. • The skilled workers at the mine will probably comefromsomewhere else and unlikely to live in a town overrun with trucks and more likely to live in Cedar City or south of Alton. • The "grunt" work might be available for local workers but coal mines are inherently dangerous and unhealthy making them not very desirable jobs. • It is already difficult to fill jobs here and it seems unlikely "the kids" are going to move back here or stay here to work in a coal mine. • Most speakers felt that the small amount ofjobs that might be created was not worth the damage the mine and the trucks would do to the area. The people attending the meeting wanted the city council to express anofficial position on the mine. Because none of the councilmen had attended the public meeting at the Triple C Arena on February 1st and some of them did not know much about the mine until the citizens brought it to their attention, they wanted to find out more information, Mayor Art Cooper and City Manager Allen Henrie both attended the public meeting. They were not sure it was appropriate for the city to state a position either way but that they are willing to submit comments to the BLM expressing concerns about specific issues. Several councilmen indicated they would fill out the comment forms as private citizens. No one spoke in favor of the mine but the subject is on the agenda for the next city council meeting on Tuesday, February 27th. Citizens either for or against, or just looking for more information, are encouraged by the council members to attend and let their opinions be heard. The deadline for public comments to the BLM is Monday, February 26,2007. Email your comments to Keith Rigtrup at UT_Kanab_altoncoal@b1m.gnv Or mail Keith Rigtrup, BLM Kanab Field Office, 318 N. 100 East, Kanab, UT 84741. Comment forms can also be obtained from Peggy Egan at The Red Brick Inn B&B, 435-676-2141 Page 8 SHURTLEFF ASKS TEENS TO SLOW DOWN, SPEAK UP & STOP RECKLESS DRIVING Attorney General Mark Shurtleff would like to put the brakes on fatal car crashes involving teens and young adults. Shurtleff is partnering with the Advertising Council, other state attorneys general and consumer protection agencies to promote the new UR the Spokesperson campaign, a media blitz aimed at helping young people speak out against reckless driving. "Car crashes are the number one killer for teens and young adults. In Utah, 55 people were killed in crashes involving young drivers in 2005. It's time for teens to speak out when they don't feel safe and put an end to these senseless tragedies," says Shurtleff. Nationally, more than 300,000 teens are injured in car crashes each year, nearly 8,000 are involved in fatal crashes and more than 3,500 are killed. The data from the National Highway Traffic Safety information also shows that teen drivers are involved in more than five times as many fatal crashes as adults. Young drivers are also more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns and die in SUV rollovers. The UR the Spokesperson campaign features public service advertisements with a swarmy, over-the-top spokesperson who appears to offer safe driving tips. The ads conclude with the message 'There is no spokesperson to prevent reckless driving. There's only you. Speak up." The message is targeting young passengers because research shows that young drivers may be more likely to listen to their friends than to adults. The campaign will also raise awareness about the importance of driving at safe speeds, avoiding distractions and wearing seat belts. "Teen drivers will listen to their friends because they want to remain friends and they don't want to be tagged as bad drivers," says Shurtleff. Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and the American Automobile Association (AAA) will also be spreading the message to its members. The campaign is being funded by a 2002 settlement between all state attorneys general and the Ford Motor company. The settlement resolved allegations of deceptive trade practices involving the sales and advertising of Ford sport utility vehicles. The ads and more information can be found on a new web site at www.URtheSpokesperson.cora. |