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Show State enters tar sands project pilot plant on Asphalt Ridge The State of Utah is entering the tar sands development business, contributing con-tributing $450,000 to a partnership with Enercor, a private Utah corporation, to construct and operate a pilot plant on Asphalt Ridge, about four miles west of Vernal. John M. Wallace Sr., prominent Utah banker, is president of Enercor. Vice president is Richard A. Christenson, president of a thrift and loan organization. Walter J. Plumb III, a Salt Lake attorney, is secretary, and former Sen. Frank E. Moss is the fourth board member. Special consultants to the Enercor board include Dr. John Miller, professor, and Dr. Alex G. Oblad, distinguished professor of fuels engineering at Univerity of Utah. Dr. Oblad directed research efforts the past six years at the university resulting in a hot water process for extracting the oil from tar sands (leaving only a residue of clean sand) and an upgrading process to convert the bitumen to refinery grade. Don Nielson, chairman State Advisory Advi-sory Council on Science and Technology, emphasized that the choice of winning applicant for the state grant, and the process to be tested, was made by an ad hoc committee com-mittee comprised only of council members who had no interest in any of eight private applicants. Dr. Oblad, and other council members mem-bers who had ties to other applicants or processes, took no part in the screening or discussion of applications or the final choice, Mr. Niplson said. Mr. Nielson said about $50:0O0 of the original $500,000 state appropriation has been used in analyzing and processing the applications, so about $450,000 would be contributed by the state to the Enercor project, "which is a small portion of what will be required for the pilot plant." He said the state council, according to provisions of the appropriation legislation, will monitor the development develop-ment and operation of the pilot plant. Mr. Plumb, the Enercor attorney, said present plans are to begin engineering for the initial 50 barrel per day (bpd) pilot plant next month and have it operational in mid-1981, at a cost of $1.1 to $1.5 million. |