OCR Text |
Show Moss Asks Reconsideration Of Kaiparowiti Rejection Washington, D. C. --Utah --Utah Senator Frank E. (Ted) Moss said today he is asking the Interior Department to reconsider reconsid-er its rejection of construction con-struction permit applica-'tions applica-'tions for the Kaiparowits power plant in southern Utah. The Senator said he was "deeply concerned and shocked" by the announcement an-nouncement that right-of-way applications for Kaiparowits are being rejected. ."A balanced consideration consider-ation of all the concerns compels me to the conclusion con-clusion that the Secretary should reconsider his denial de-nial of the petition," said . Moss. "This site selection is the result of nine long years of study and planning," plan-ning," saidSenator Moss. "All this was done through consultation with state, federal and local officials as well as private priv-ate industry. Every conceivable con-ceivable problem has been carefully considered. consider-ed. "For Interior to now suggest that a new site be selected is tantamount to killing the project." Moss also took issue with the timing of the rejection re-jection announcement. He noted that the Interior Department did not even wait for the environmental environmen-tal impact statement on the project due to be filed by the utilities in the next few days. "That statement is the result of three years of research and the expenditure expen-diture of roughly one million dollars," said Moss. "I am amazed that Interior didn't even bother both-er to wait a few days to take a look at it." He continued, "It is not as if we were just rushing headlong into the unknown with Kaiparowits. This plant has been studied to death. tThe site has already al-ready been re-located once for environmental considerations. Access to water and coal is essential and that limits the options that have already been exhaustively ex-haustively considered. "It is high time we seek social balance," said Moss. "I am a sponsor spon-sor of the Clean Air Act. I introduced the bill which created the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. "I defer to no one my commitment to natural beauty and a clean environment." en-vironment." Moss continued, "But we cannot turn off our lights and close dow n our industries. A return to the primitive is beyond reason. We must have energy balanced with reasonable protection. This is the goal we have sought for years in the southwest area. I will not tolerate the cancellation of all the constructive efforts expended in this area. I shall do what I can to reconcile the conflict con-flict and serve both admirable ad-mirable and necessary purposes environment and energy!" Senator Moss said that during the last two years he took part in Interior Committee investigations investiga-tions into electrical problems pro-blems in the southwest "nothing was offered in the testimony in the way of a reasonable alternative alterna-tive to the continued development de-velopment of a coal-fueled power complex to serve a major portion of the energy load growth of the southwest." |