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Show Stale ffl?B(SD(il sCuedls Bit (ojouiDD'u'y dteyfefts The purposed White River Shale Oil processing plant should be able to perform with other area industries without exceeding air quality standards, even though information presented at a recent air quality meeting in Salt Lake City hinted otherwise, said Jim Godlove, the project's environmental director. "The point we're trying to make... is that the emission level we're consuming is at one location..., where our project and other projects do not overlap," said Godlove. He referred to data presented at a May 24 meeting of , the Utah Air Conservation Committee, which projected that the White River project would make up nearly all of the emission level allowed, 36 micrograms per cubic meter out of an allowed 37. White River officials hope the project will produce over 100,000 barrels of oil a day sometime in the 1990's. Godlove said the maximum amount of particulate concentration, according to his research would be on one side of the project site if winds were "presistant" from the west. As a result, he added, if two smaller shale oil projects were built on proposed sites to the northeast, their emissions could not interact with White River emissions. Godlove said there is no way to be certain about the diffusion of emissions unless a project is actually built. "But you can't do that unless you get the permit." The Air Conservation Committee May 24 gave preliminary approval to the proposed White River emission levels. Two public hearings would have to be held before final approval is given by the committee. Godlove said data was gathered from a diffusion model which in this case projected how White River's emission levels would interact with proposed emission levels from the Deseret Generation and Transmission Bonanza Power Plant, being built abouUO miles to the north, and the Tosco Sand Wash shale oil project about 15 miles to the west. The Bonanza and Tosco projects were included because their air quality permits have already been approved; the Parajo and Syntana Shale oil projects proposed to the northeast of White River could not be included in the tormai study Because permits nave not been approved, said Godlove. Projected emissions from Parajo and Syntana were studied informally, however. ' Godlove said emission levels are "based on diffusion modeling, which is more of an art than anything else. But it's the only way we have other than to go out and build the project. "We feel there are enough improvements to make in the modeling approach to allow many more projects to come into the region." Godlove has worked for Phillips Petroleum, one of the White River co-sponsors, co-sponsors, for nine years, much of it in permit work, and has credentials in civil and environmental engineering. He said the 36 microgram per cubic meter maximum reading for White River would occur a mile away from the emission site. "Two miles away, it would drop off even further." Godlove said he can't say for sure what the impacts would be if the nearby ; projects were built. "We haven't done any modeling with Parajo. We weren't required to." He said diffusion modeling projected five emmission characteristics: the (Continued on page 12) Air... (Continued from page one) amount of sulfates present after three hours, 24 hours and year-round, and the amount of total particulates present after 24 hours and year-round. "White River would have much less than 50 percent of the S02 levels, and the annual particulate level. The only problem was short-term particulates at one location. "We had to do our modeling based on a worst-case situations, such as winds persisting from one direction for a long period of time." The permit involved is called a prevention of significant deterioration permit, or PSD permit. PSD standards were established by the federal Clean Air Act of 1977 for relatively clean areas of the country such as western states. PSD standards are administered by state air conservation committees. |