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Show Progress Noted on Search For New Utah Power Site ,v,:iv in lituliin; ;in vi.H.iMi' for a ro.il -'l1'' i '1' ' :ono -;iUiii; sl.ituH) in llu ici - hi' soniiuMii it. ill's iuivw its P l.i I o.i u was xit'U'il this Wl'l'k to IM1- i,inimu'iit.i liMilors ami ..',-hUhm's of l ho 1'. S. IV-.jilinoiU IV-.jilinoiU of tho Intorior. : Moolin. in Inu-iioi' IV -yrimoiu offices, iho vup N's toUl of tho most 'joiMit stiktios lo ioViuifv vtenti.it now sitos in ynittiorn I't.ih which ,ouK1 Uh'.Uo tho .uoner.il -l'.K'ilit f.irthor from ?Ke Pooll aiul tho Clou I'.myon K o o r i- a I i o n i 1 area. Once all onv ironmoiii.il approuls luo boon obtained, ob-tained, tho $1.5 billion itUlO - nu'ijaw .at .conerat-ini; .conerat-ini; facility could bo built and in operation within lio years. If this ooal is not used tor electrical Konoialion, the .most likely alternate fuel is oil taken from C S. Reserves or imported im-ported from foreign nations. na-tions. This 3,000 megawatts mega-watts of generation would require about 33 million barrels of oil annually -niorejlKm presently con- sinned each year for all purposes in tho Stale of I'tah. l''onr southwestern utilities ut-ilities are reiving on the Southern I'tah Project to pro ide a major source of additional electric power required by the lilSO's. They are Arizona Public Service, San Diego Cas & Klectrie Company, The Sale River Project and the Project Director. Southern California Kd-ison Kd-ison Company. " The four participants anticipate an increased electricity consumer demand de-mand in the next ten vears of more than H.OOI) megawatts. me-gawatts. The 3,000 mega -watts to be generated at Kaiparowits will supuh about 20 percent of that lived." David .1. Fogarty . Vice President in charge of system development for Edison, pointed out to those assembled for the briefing. "The proposed coal-fired coal-fired electric facility in Southern I'tah is not a new project." Fogarty said. "It had its inception more than ton years ago when test drilling along the Kaiparowits Plateau indicated a large deposit of recoverable low-sulfur coal. "A number of sites in the area have been suggested sug-gested over the years. The time has come when the best site should be weighed in the light of w w W Mil I envi ronmental consider -at ions , economic feasi bilily, and vital fuel av -ailability," he said. Robert S. Currie, Project Pro-ject Manager, explained that Southern California Ellison and the three other utilities last June had submitted a detailed two-volume two-volume envi ronmental report to the Department of the Interior recommending recom-mending Nipple Bench as the desired site. When Interior officials offi-cials suggested that Nipple Nip-ple Bench was too close to the Glen Canyon Recreational Re-creational Area, additional addi-tional and even more restrictive re-strictive guidelines were established and the new, more detailed siting study stu-dy was initiated. "The selection process including map interpretation, interpre-tation, helicopter reconnaissance, recon-naissance, ground level investigation and matrix analysis, was conducted to ascertain environmentally environmen-tally acceptable power plant locations," Currie said. Completed early in November, No-vember, the study identifies iden-tifies four candidate sites ranging from four to 17 miles farther from Lake Powell than the Nipple Bench site. "Fuel for the plant will be mined underground at nearby sites; strip or surface mining is not contemplated," Fogarty told the group in Washington Washing-ton . "Const met ion and operation op-eration of the proposed station will produce economic, ec-onomic, social and environmental en-vironmental benefits which the participants believe be-lieve will outweigh any envi ronmental impact. However, we recognize that the level of impact upon the environment must be minimized, and we are committed to design, de-sign, construct and operate ope-rate the plant accordingly." according-ly." Fogarty said. Following final site selection, se-lection, applications for construction and right-of-way at the new site will then be subject to environmental impact studies, public hearings and policy reviews. Fogarty noted that since this review process takes an extended period of time, and that the development de-velopment of low-sulfur coal is recognized as necessary nec-essary in the establishment establish-ment of U.S. self reliance in the energy crisis, it is important to move forward for-ward as soon as possible on the site decision. |