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Show ate Opinion and Editorial _ - WASATCH COUNTY COURIER Sos Oo o . . on ee a . am 5 > . SSE *. ae . . oO Se ° o . . a . . * . te . . Sila o * ale * . [A o o Ge o Os isn . a) ») a a a a of a ne a * ee ee a . *. . = a faint Melia etait Ho . a a Mise ekiha ie . a “ a or tage . = . a » aa a! “ate . i'n e ad A fy Pe SS a oy ey a * a ay i s | fais ifs) se Fe LU bY a ee Across From Tennis Courts eee a a Re ry J Sa 28 W. 100 N. Midway ea oe ee “ “ Bi a * ce Biting Sie SS Na ar S) “ eo SS Ca rs ART : GIFTS FURNISHINGS s Wome SS . tea ." AS i a 10-50% Off * ea,Aman 8 iniaes 8 | Storewide Discounts a iar YO . re oo ae . . ees Te 8 AM-6PM SS SA SS L bball I Saturday + July 17th One Day Only a) eer " Obs fn oo = pene Sees cs . son teers 7 » Wain . < Si o -p Ys o Fe “ PS a Oo es like to portray themselves as ect neat ox great moral crusaders. They are out to save the earth, the animals, the trees and everything else from the rest of us, who by definition, either aren’t smart enough or don’t care enough to know what is good for Fe 8. Pid OB oO Gee Ps . SALE "is < Pd Py oO “. RNYARD | FD OP Lt Pd Fajog nie ey Be Rs ba) " bn) b) | A SS RS OG bf ns be fy oo “5 o o We ks a Stas Ot PS A a! _ RR ". Ist Annual bn * ys Saiiiic <i 2 Pel ba = we BS salad Pd at De at ". ba at Problems with stability on the sides of cuts were made to seem like incompetence on the part of the builder rather than typical problems that needed special work. | | But the real ripper came when the contractor interpreted the Corps of Engineers’ wetland permit differently from the bureaucrats who wrote it. The permit required the “roadway” to be eight feet from the “ordi- nary highwater mark.” Both the Utah Department of Transportation and the contractor thought this meant the _ pavement. The Corps of Engineers said it meant the outHave you ever wondered how they get the money to side of the retaining wall. 7 carry on this high-minded crusade? Rather than treat this as a misunderstanding, after all us. The Provo Canyon example. road project | gives a perfect | 3 what kind of nut case would you have to be to think that road engineers would purposely violate a binding permit In 1996 a group of environmentalists tried to get in plain sight of the whole world, the American Canoe . Phase II of the project, the 2.1 miles from. the upper falls _ Association and the Provo Canyon Coalition threatened to Wildwood killed. They took the case to court. They to make a federal case out of it and go to court. — lost. | The ACA, which has nine pages of litigation action Environmental concerns, however, brought about a around the country listed on its web site, was the driving number of concessions from UDOT regarding how the force behind the action. Robert Redford’s Sundance project would be built. The steepness of cuts would be Foundation, in the person of Julie Mack, environmental great to lessen the affect on vegetation. Tunnels were coordinator, provided the planned to reduce the area affected by the road “Suddenly folks who most likely could- and 4 grab their back pockets with both 6,000 feet of retaining wall would be constructed to also reduce the affected area. Now its no small thing to build a four lane road through a narrow while at the ing wall were charges of a hands became road construction experts looking for the slightest reasons to criti¢jze the work.” the river bank, and failing of other Lee — and the ae ois | Having driven more than a hundred times through the canyon while work was progressing I was impressed by the effectiveness of the engineers and the construc- viola- tions, such as not updating revegetation to properly canyon same time project advancing. local outrage in the media. _ Along with the retainnumber keeping traffic moving, the river protected LLU IEEE FOR CITIZENS OF DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMON SENSE a Pe ba < UTAH EXECUTIVE . Py os « plans along install silt ALLEN dams, black vinyl sheeting on stakes along the bank, ~ Guest COLUMNIST to separate silt from runoff water. Virtually all of the problems could have been solved quickly with little difficulty once they were discovered, but there is no. money in that and the builder had to be punished. UDOT and the road contractor decided to settle. The tion workers. Everyone seemed to know what needed to — obstructionist lawyers got $27,000 for their efforts. And be done and was doing it with great skill. since the law doesn’t allow “citizen” parties to suits From driving along the construction area you could under the Clean Water Act to get payment, $140,000 was hardly guess that the project was being dogged by a given by the judge to an environmental organization, group of environmental obstructionists, backed by the selected by the Provo Canyon Coalition, called The Provo Herald, who were more interested in stopping the Nature Conservancy. The contractor also paid $10,000 project and flexing their political muscle than they were to the same people. | | Ld LU By LEE ALLEN . o SS SS SS Oe ee o oo * ° od - . . . ae SSS Pe oO _ a ny ieeks gta a o Se oo I Hollie Peo bd MIDWAY : in seeing a lifesaving road built. | $4.99 ea. Thousands y ae | | | | Save $1 Minimum Purchase $4.99 3 | , a | : |4 3 Save $2 Minimum Purchase $9.99 | i Wie i Expires July 31st, 1999 assis: wan seth Nl ens ane Open 1-7 Monday thru Saturday Movies Guaranteed experts looking for the slightest reasons to criticize the Never mind that the river was not damaged. That not a single trout was ever scared, made ill or even inconvenienced by the construction of the new road. The obstructionists flexed their muscle, caused a lot of tur- work. ; : - Tt became a no win situation for the road builders ‘moil and in the end got paid by the taxpayers for their | efforts. If you or I had threatened someone’s business who had real world problems to deal with. First there unless they paid money to our friend we would be in jail. were complaints about drilling equipment taking core samples to.determine the underlying rock conditions. talism. But such is the high moral basis of modern environmen- yeas Then there were complaints when unexpected cracks and holes were found and had to be dealt with. to choose from! COUPON | Suddenly folks who most likely couldn’t grab their back pockets with both hands became road construction Sales Store 84 South Main ¢ 657-1730 PL Mf | Juty 13, 1999 The Great Provo Canyon Road Shakedown Story . cL lL sul . eal . eS Sa Aan | ~ Do You Have an © Event or an Activity? | Getitinto The Courier” — _ |