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Show Jack-Straws By Ju:k VV.iilis v. Tuesday, July 14 was a red letter day for Uintah County. On this day Deseret Generation and Transmission Cooperative officially started construction con-struction work on the Moon Lake Power Project northwest of Bonanza. On this day the county can now award the contract to H - K Contractors, Inc. for the first segment on the direct route Vernal to Bonanza road as soon as the funds are available. Also on this day the bids were opened on the new Horseshoe Hor-seshoe Bend bridge over the Green River and the second segment of the Vernal-Bonanza road. This day will probably go down in history as the day that started a change in the Bonanza area. Other activities that are expected to get underway scon in the Bonanza area will include a new bridge over the White River near the old Ignatio stage stop and more road work. The Division of Utah Water Resources has agreed to spend $1.25 million on the White River bridge even before it builds the White River dam and reservoir. The reason, for building the bridge first is to give White River Shale Project access to its U-a and U-b federal oil shale leases. White River Shale is considering helping finance the new road into its leases to the tune of $4 million. As the projects to provide a reliable electrical source and build new heavy roads into the oil shale country of Uintah County advance, we expect some announcements and projects from White River Shale Project and Tosco's Sand Wash project. But all is not rosey in the oil shale business. Our neighbors to the east in Colorado were set back by the announcement an-nouncement last week by Rio Blanco Oil Shale Company that they were withdrawing with-drawing their application for a special use permit for a oil shale retort in federal lease C-a. After preliminary costs for the project had doubled officials stated it seemed only sensible to withdraw the application. They are now looking at alternatives for a smaller demonstration demon-stration or pilot plant instead of the larger original operation. This action will mean delays and possible layoffs. If accelerated costs continue more companies may back away from their oil shale projects. With the increased socio-economic demands along with the increased difficulty in obtaining the necessary permits, the oil shale industry in-dustry could again go back on the back burner until a more favorable climate is reached. Some have conjectured that DG&T's delay in getting its REA loan guarantee on its power plant is related to the many cost overruns that have sieged the project. Still others are conjecturing that the Rio Blanco Oil Shale withdrawal is just a tactic to get more favorable treatment. treat-ment. The Colorado project insists that off tract leases are necessary for placement of spent shale. Maybe it is time we honestly faced the facts of the issues. Is the exploitation ex-ploitation of oil shale worth the impact and environmental problems it will cause? Are oil shale companies being honest with their cost projections, or are they inflating them to get economic relief for the survival of the industry? How bad does the economy really need an oil shale industry for its oil source? The answers to these questions will determine the immediate and future development of oil shale. We would hope that these problems can be worked out so everyone can benefit from the recovery of a valuable untapped un-tapped natural resource. With the announcements this week we feel the local area is well on its way setting up the foundation that is necessary for the future development and commercial use of oil shale. Because of the potential size of the industry, maybe it is a good thing to experience delays and withdrawals and what seems like slow progress. It is probably better to go slowly than to find the area not being able to handle the many problems that fast growth brings. We welcome growth and industry, but we hope the planning and the necessary preparations can be made needed to handle the extra growth. This may be an impossible crystal ball situation, but it might be a good idea to think about what might happen if events and activities don't go as planned. |