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Show ftaty-Seghers & lawsuits laid to rest Davis burn plant gets new manager By JENNIFER PETERSON Staff Writer The Davis County bum plant is no longer in the hands of Katy- Qghers Co. Last week the Davis unty Waste Management and Waste Recovery Special District took control of the plant as two lawsuits and several years of disputes were finally laid to rest. OThe district's engineer has hired an interim manager to keep the plant running until a permanent manager can be chosen and put into place. "It's a real relief," said County Commissioner Gayle Stevenson. "We're in control of our own destiny des-tiny now, so to speak. We don't have to deal with the injustices we feel we were exposed to any more. ' The cost of running the plant should remain the same, Stevenson said, and, contrary to the belief of many county residents, there is no plan to raise the tipping fees. Many residents of the unincor porated area were enraged earlier this month when they discovered they would be required to pay their own tipping fees. Previously, the county has been able to pay the fees through a surplus in property taxes. Stevenson denied allegations by county residents that the fee hike was the result of the district taking control of the burn plant. "Those people are dead wrong. The only thing we did was discontinue discon-tinue paying the tipping fee for residents," Stevenson said. However, the rumor that Weber County residents whose gaibage is occasionally hauled to the bum plant are charged a lower tipping fee is true. "In the winter, when our garbage intake is too low for the steam we need to produce, we do import garbage," gar-bage," Stevenson said. "We charge them a lower tipping fee because their fees at their regular dumps are lower than ours. They wouldn't transport their trash here if we charged them more than their regular dump." To those who still complain 4 about the bum plant and the increase in-crease in fees and cost, Stevenson said there is little that can be done about it. "There's no point in crying over the bum plant. The decision to build it was made a long time ago and now it's in use," Stevenson explained. ex-plained. "In time it may show to be the correct decision. It can keep our landfills from overgrowing. What would we have done if the BARD disappeared and we didn't have the bum plant?" The district is looking forward to maintaining what Stevenson called a good record and safe operations. "There haven't been as many problems as people think. It's just been blown out of proportion," Stevenson said. "On any given day the particulate levels may rise, but the averages are far below the limits." Stevenson hoped the plant would be able to maintain this consistency throughout its service. "We are committed to making sure the emissions levels remain acceptable," ac-ceptable," Stevenson said. |