OCR Text |
Show Emery County Volume 84 No. 26 Wednesday, June 29, Countys $ loss is state s gain Flood victims ask 4Is worst over? by Larry W. Davis Progress Editor Could the worst be over? Thats what Emery County officials and many property owners in the area are wondering this week about flood waters which have caused by Larry W. Davis Progress Editor An emergency appropriations bill aimed at balancing the state budget was approved by the Utah Legislature last week, but millions of dollars damage this spring. the states lawmakers many saw the measure as robbing from energy-ric- h areas, including Emery County, to pay for state deficits. With the passage of the measure, $21.8 million was added to the general fund. However, funding for the bill came from money scheduled to of Monday. We need to get on with other road jobs in the county. He added that waters on the special one-eigh- percent. Huntington, by Karen Matusic The Black Diamond and Oliphant mines near Joes Valley Reservoir have been deemed attractive nuisances and will be under reclamation processes in August, according to Mary Ann Wright, administrator of Abandoned Mines speaking at Wednesdays public hearing at the county courthouse, discussed the th Emery and Orangeville have all approved the tax hike. Other towns in the county have either not approved their budgets yet or were unavailable for comment. In Emery, the city council has approved a budget for fiscal year 1983-8- 4 that amounts to $84,100. According to Emery treasurer Stella McKinney, the budget is an increase of about $4, (KM) over last years budget. The increase is probably for our administration costs for our maintenance man, she said. Orangeville also reports an increased budget over last years figures. Murleen Bean, (Continued on Page 3) public has been very cooperative in dealing with the flooding problems. Although Barney said that it appears flooding will plague the county for another 30 days, he is anxious to get on with other road work. The county is looking at several chipping and patching projects as well as improvements on Bott Lane. As bad as the situation has been for the countys roads and bridges, Barney admits that many farmers in the county have been hurt worse by the floods. County Extension Agent Dennis Worwood said that his office is accepting agriculture damage reports due to flooding. Calls are coming in from farmers and ranchers who want to know how to file claims, but no claims have yet been filed, Worwood said on Monday. The local agent added that damage along Huntington Creek appears to be the highest for The agriculture property. t of the problem "in country is that when the topsoil is washed away, fanners are looking at a total loss since the soil underneath is so poor, he said. Worwood added that there have also been reports of damage along Cottonwood Creek. The USU Extension office is involved in collecting flood this-par- damage reports. However, Worwood said that his office is not involved in making any kind of assessment. The reports, he said, will be sent to the state for evaluation. Abandoned mines face reclamation Wright, by Karen Matusic Of the three Emery County towns that have approved their budget, all three plan on raising the local sales tax by Co- The road superintendent also praised his crews for the work they have put in during the Reclamation Program of Utah. approve budgets and go. the 3 cities Ferron ttonwood creeks closely. Cottonwood and Ferron are still high, but the cool weather we had last week has slowed things down some, Barney said. While the situation may appear more positive than at any time since Memorial Day weekend when flood damages were first reported along Huntington Creek, the road department is just beginning to compile damage cost estimates. Barney said that estimated damage to roads and bridges in the county will exceed $1.5 million. An additional $200,000 in costs attributed to labor and equipment bring the total close to $2 million. The county is compiling figures to be presented to state officials for possible disaster aid reimbursement, but Barney is not real Optimistic about a total refund. I think we might end up paying for most of it out of our budget, he said. However, he added that Emery County is in better shape than many areas in the state, noting that flood waters locally have a place to is taking a substantial amount of the mineral lease money and placing it in the general fund. He said that the lease money is refunded to the state from the federal government for the purpose of mitigating the impact that energy development has on the outlying counties. The legislature was also scheduled to address the matter of funding for state flooding. However, because flooding is still taking place in the state, legislators agreed to take the matter up at a later date. Representative Christensen cording to Representative Christensen, the committee will be holding a series of meetings prior to July 14 when the legislature reconvenes. Huntington Creek have stabilized while officials are still watching flooding. Our guys have been good to come out to work at any time during the week, day or night, he said. They havent grumbled about it and have responded real well. He said that at times, all 32 employees of the department have been working on flood problems and call. each has been on He also said that the general ur think the runoff has peaked, at least I hope it has, Emery County Road Superintendent Ron Barney said 52-1- session, The magnitude of the flooding situation is so great and continues to enlarge that we agreed that more information needs to be accumulated and evaluated prior to our taking any action. The representative has been assigned to the special Natural Resources Committee which has been charged with arriving at a cost to the state after evaluating a summary of flood damages from each county. It will then arrive at recommendations for funding. Ac- in local I go to community development projects in areas expecting large population increases due to energy development. Among those voting against the measure, which passed 22-- 2 5 in the Senate and in the was House, Representative Tom Christensen who represents most of Emery County. I voted against the way the general budget was balanced because it was done at the expense of the outlying counties since the state said following 1983 reclamation program Reclamation of abandoned mines is important. Generations have gone by, and buildings on these sites have crumbled. Abandoned shafts attract people to them. Erosion and fires are also areas of concern. In 1975, Utah law was passed requiring the reclamation of any type of mine that is abandoned and represents a danger. These laws require that the shafts and portals must be closed and then the land must be returned to use, Wright said. Funds for the reclamation program in the U.S. comes from the coal operators. Under the Abandoned Mines Reclamation Program, the coal operators pay 15 cents for every ton of coal mined. Each state then gets 50 percent of this money back, Wright said. The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program is a division of Oil, Gas and Mining under the Department of Natural Resources. There are four reclamation projects scheduled for this summer. In the Carbon-Emer- y area these sites are in the and Wellington, Kenilworth, two Emery County mines. These mines are being closed because they are attractive nuisances. There is evidence of fire rings and there are unsafe structures up there. The coal waste is a blight on the area, Wright said. These sites have been identified to us as areas of hazard. We have a cause of creting the portals in. Well also probably be vacuuming the coal out because equipment might cause problems with water Not sources, Wright said. much large machinery will be used; it will be mostly hand labor. A member of the audience expressed his concern of closing these mines that represent a great deal of hand-construct- historical significance. Wright argued that these mines present a danger to the public. Were dealing with six feet of coal waste, she said. (Continued on Page 10) concern because of the evidence of visitation at the Black Diamond and Oliphant mines. They are near a recreation site (Joes Valley), she added. Wright then explained the Were reclamation process proposing to remove the structures, close the portals, and to the extent we can, remove coal waste and do some revegetation. The program at the two Emery County mines is scheduled to begin at the end of summer and be completed sometime in the fall, according to Wright. Contractors may bid for the project. Were trying to involve a lot of labor. We will be using hand removal as much as possible. We have to advertise the contract bidding in the entire state, but we can make the stipulation that local labor must be hired. Its just too sticky to sole source the contracts to Carbon-Emer- y companies, Wright explained. In this project, were looking at using local rock and con Getting Inside an abandoned mine and looking out has been a fantasy of many people, and a couple of old mines near Joe's Valley offer easy access to mine exploration. However, hazardous conditions that exist at these mines have prompted government officials to take steps toward closure of the old structures. |