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Show Garbage Energy Simmers By MARK D. MICKELSEN BOUNTIFUL The future of two proposed resource recovery plants, each capable of converting garbage into usable energy, is dependent upon the support of several Wasatch Front communities and whether or not contracts can be finalized with major companies willing to buy the energy produced. THAT'S ACCORDING to Wilbur Jeffer-ies, Jeffer-ies, executive director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, who said Wednesday Wednes-day councilmembers will not recommend approval of any plan to build the plants until local government leaders aRree to administer the program and until specific contracts are signed by those corporations willing to buy the energy. Hill AFB is the only company that has agreed to buy energy "at this point." Mr. Jefferies said. WFRC representatives recently signed on the Wall Street firm of Smith, Barney, Harris and Uppum to complete bond underwriting activities for the projects and to return to the council a list of funding alternatives for construction. Plans for two resource recovery facilitiesone facili-tiesone in Davis and one in Salt Lake County are being carefully evaluated by representatives on the council. WFRC members believe the plants will not only be capable of producing much needed energy, but will reduce the amount of community refuse being dumped into the county's landfills. A MAJORITY of the existing landfills are nearly filled to capacity. When discussions began to study the prospect of resource recovery, Mr. Jefferies Jeffer-ies said it appeared as though the cost of operating the plants would be much more expensive on a short erm basis. HOWEVER, after some investigation, the WFRC has found that the costs will actually be less expensive, Jefferies continued. con-tinued. Representatives at Hill AFB have suggested sug-gested five possible locations for the Davis County plant, four of which are inside the confines of the base. The WFRC has not made a final determination on the location site as yet. IN SALT Lake County, Jefferies said several sites are being considered, including includ-ing the old Vitro mill property near West . Jordan and a future landfill site inside the city-county boundaries. He said the resource recovery plan proposed prop-osed by the council "is an involved process," pro-cess," because, time-wise, the project is set up for 25-30 years. IN EARLY April, the WFRC determined that Salt Lake and Davis counties generate enough solid waste to support the construction construc-tion of two separate plants. The development of the actual program "is moving rapidly," Mr. Jefferies said. |