Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley Copy USPS 5Qc Vot 81 No 21 December 5 1221 Ash Grove Cement West IPA Tax Monies Reigniting a Burning Issue Released Kate Heltenbrand November 27th On Wednesday Millard County Commissioners signed their names to a letter which sought to finally bring to an end the lengthy battle over tax monies between the county and Intermountain Power Agency County Attorney LcRay Jackson slated that the County will not be doing anything until after December 17th the final date for appeal by IPA “We're sitting and waiting" said Jackson “There are many issues volved allocation capacity municipal exemptions" LeRay Robyn Pearson Mary Day and John Hansen met with IPA officials r to hammer out the settlement to a conflict Part of the agreement with the IPA officials was to grant the power company the municipal exemption of 1119 percent a total of $874591369 which the IPA will use to help offset their payment of tax monies back into the County Total monies released to Millard approxiCounty were $2426318021 mately “25 percent more than anticipated" stated Jackson Veterans of Utah Outreach Program Veterans in need of assistance with the Veterans Administration may visit with FE Martinez Department Service Officer of the Disabled American Veterans during the month of December 1991 Mr Martinez may assist with refor compensation pension quests medical treatment VA home loan defaults and education He will also assist any vetaan or widow of a veteran in answering correspondence or completing forms from the Veterans Administration The DAV representative will be in Fillmore on December 19 1991 at Job Service from 1:00 am to 12:00 pm Messiah Rehearsals Continue Final rehearsals are underway for this season’s presentation of Messiah by GF Handel Performances take place in Eskdale on Saturday December 7th and in Delta at the Delta Stake Center on Sunday December 8th Both performances begin at 7:30 The traditional concert is a stalwart of the holiday festivities Mark your calendars now Blue Note Concert The Blue Notes invite you to their Christmas Concert This is an evening of suitable for the entire entertainment family— "The Gift of Christmas" on Friday December 13 at 7:00 pm at the Delta High School Auditorium $200 for adults $ 000 for a family Proceeds will be donated to charity R Public Notices this issue Millard Counry Fire District will hold a Public Hearing Dec 9 1991 6:30 pm at the Fillmore Fire Station to receive public comment on the annual budget Millard County Library Board announces new book policies Millard County will hold a public hearing to receive comment on their annual budget Dec 10 1991 at the Millard County Courthouse The Board of Trustees for the East and West Millard Care Centers will meet Dec 12 1991 9:00 am at the West Millard Care Center Conference Room Millard County School District Foundation will accept bids on a house and property For complete notices see page nine Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa will be at the Delta City 76 North 200 West Building Delta Utah on Saturday December 7 1991 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Come and drop a wish or two and get a sack of treats for yout 0 d After siiiging a medley of World War II songs Lorene Smith JudyJarvin andNedra Jackson were elected as next year's Delta High School commemorative chairgroup "This is the last time we dress alike Lorene Hail Hail The Gang’s All Here Kate Heltenbrand For the first time since 1969 graduates from Delta High School gathered on November 30th to break bread relive friends and memories see celcbtate youthful days spent at “dear old Delta High” The dinner was catered by Tops City Cafe and a program of toasts dance demonstrations and music kept good friends remembering teachers and school events Clyde Brush representing the first class of 1923 spoke a few words Roberta Dutson offered a humorous reading from her Junior Year Diary and Sharon Clark conducted a candlelight memorial moment for those no longer with us Rada Rawlinson toasted her class of 1931 Cecil Lossec toasted his fellow graduates of 1941 Virginia Johnson spoke about the class of 1951 Connie Turner told of the class of 1961 Nancy Bennett saluted the class of 1971 Natalie Dutson Fullmer celebrated her class of 1981 and Vickie Butterfield represented the most recent class of 1991 “We’ve all got Delta hearts and that's what counts” Thirteen special people were inducted into the first Academic Hall of Fame and those who made the trip back for the event heaped praise on their hometown beginnings Nick Pace said simply: “I’m so happy I grew up in Delta” Astronomer J Ward Moody PhD said that his interest in the stars began during evenings when he and his father got stuck driving their in the mud near Hinckley “That got me launched” he said Similar insights brought laughter and reverence to the crowd Those present selected Lorene Smith Nedra Jackson and Judy Jarvin as next year’s chairgroup Nedra promises that the event will continue on the Saturday following Thanksgiving' New US law mandates information on right to die Patients have a right to refuse treatment A new law that took effect December requires that persons entering a hospital nursing home or home health service that receives Medicare or Medicaid funds have a right to refuse treatment The law requires providers to inform adult patients about their state rights to accept or refuse medical to prepare a living will or similar advance directive The providers must document in the patient’s record whether they have such a document Persons being admitted will not be told they have one but they will be informed that if they choose to have one they can In Utah the federal mandate means that patients must be informed to their right to have a living will or durable power of attorney A living will is a signed document slating that the individual doesn't wish to have life prolonged by artificial life support when an illness is terminal Durable power of attorney is a document designating a trusted friend or family decisions member to make when the individual is incapacitated Admitting personnel at the Delta and Fillmore Community Medical Centers the West Millard Care Center and Home Health personnel will ask if a patient has a living will at the lime of admission if not information will be provided should the patient or family wish the advance directive information said Gary Stay Administrator Stay said “the facilities won’t provide legal counsel and that patients would be well served to make such arrangements before they enter a hospital" Once the arrangements arc made people need to inform their doctors he added “We don’t encourage or discourage anyone from signing a living will" said Stay an advance directive is the general term for a written statement that is prepared in advance of a serious ness and sets out how people want medical decisions made if they become unable to communicate their wishes The directive commonly becomes a living will which stipulates the kind of medical care someone desires Another form is a durable power of attorney for health care which designates someone to make health related decisions for a patient unable to do so Without an advance directive medical decisions-suas whether to continue left to a pasystems-a- re tient’s family physician and hospital and sometimes to a judge The facilities have a short video and a pamphlet explaining in some detail how a living will works Should any group or person wish additional information regarding living wills they should contact the hospital NOTICE The Millard County Commission would like to clarify the public notice regarding the 1992 County Budget increase (The law requires a quarter page notice for any budget andor tax increase) The County Budget for 1992 will be increased for the following reasons: The budget increase is largely the result of a transfer of taxes from the Recreation Districts to the County’s tax rolls 2 The Revenue Sharing Plan approved by the voters will increase the tax rate by about 0002 The Commission has strived to help alleviate the impact of this new tax by reducing the tax rates assessed by the Special Districts 3 The State of Utah has mandated that Court facilities meet certain standards In order to keep the 4th District Court in Millard County the County is required to build a new Court facility or substantially renovate the existing court house Although the cost of the court facility must be included in the budget the county docs not anticipate using tax dollars to fund this project 4 The Federal Disability Act requires that all public buildings be accessible to the handicapped therefore the Courthouse must be adapted to meet these new requirements in 1992 The Commissioners do not anticipate a tax increase In 1992 You may remember that in November 1989 representatives of Ash Grove Cement West Inc located in Juab held a meeung County public to discuss their desire to bum a narrow stream of "hazardous wastes" in their kiln which sits just above Leamington and outside the Millard County northern boundary During that meeting two years ago hosted by Ken Ware Employee Relations Manager for the Ash Grove plant approximately 30 local people protested the concept stating that they did not want hazardous wastes burned in such close proximity to nearby Leamington and the Sevier River In the November 6th 1989 issue of the Millard County Chronicle Progress it was reported that Ware and other Ash kGrove officials held the meeting to discuss the possibility of using “carefully blended and controlled liquid (pumpable) and solid fuels" Ware told those attending that “the fuels the company plans to test this made from old tires old winter are fuels" motor oil and Now to November 25 99 to a dinncrmceting held at Chef’s Palace in Delta where a groupof prominent persons most interested in this situation" are gathered by special written invitation The invitations stressed that participants should “come prepared to voice your concerns and to the extent possible with ideas as to how the present impasse can be overcome" The invitation continued by saying “We believe that when people of good will get together reasonable compromises can generally be reached" The :nvitations were printed on Senator Cary G Peterson's stationary written ostensibly by Peterson and cosigned by Joseph H Moody Utah State Representative and sponsor of House Bill 16 a bill which seeks to establish permanent citing criteria on hazardous waste incinerators The impasse mentioned refers to the stalemate that exists between Ash Grove Cement West Inc and those Millard County residents opposed to the wastes burning of hazardous wastes which Ash Grove officials are now ferring to as alternative fuels a somewhat more palatable name (“The word ‘hazardous’ is such an energizing word" states Wayne Evans of Evans a public relations Communications firm representing Ash Grove) “Prominent" Millard County persons such as the three County Commissioners Delta’s Mayor Don Dafoe and Tolbert were not Lynndyl’sMayorCB invited to the meeting (Lynndyl had been targeted in 1989 as a site for a hazardous waste incinerator by Rollins Environmental Services Inc but the proposal was soundly defeated out of the County by some 2626 to 685 votes) This reporter though not prominent was very interested in the meeting and therefore invited herself to attend She was allowed to stay At this November 25th meeting heavily credeniialcd engineers and scientists brought in by Ash Grove sat side by side with Millard County water representatives including' company Clyde and Nan Bunker Ray Hoelzlc Ken Fowlcs Gordon Nielsen Also in Mike attendance were Stylcr Thorpe Waddingham and Phil Lovell Ash Grove Cement brought Doug Hale Ken Ware Duane Crutchfield and an impressive group of professional consultants from throughout the west including attorney Jim Holtcamp from Salt Lake City and Scott Ellis of Ca dence Chemical Resources The big was Michael Heap gun however PhD and independent Combustion Engineer who works with the University of Utah Sue Ferry lobbyist for Ash Grove Cement and wife of Department of Agriculture head "Cap" Ferry also at tended as well as Utah State Farm Bureau president and Millard County resident Ken Ashby After several hours of persuasive reassurances by Heap and others as to the safety effectiveness and viability of burning “alternative fuels” in the process little ground had been gained with the bottom line locals and major areas of contention still mained unresolved "We’re never going to get anywhere unless we all start speaking the same language” attorney Thorpe Waddingham stated several days after the meeting "We need a McGruff reader situation so that people can understand what’s belt g talked about" WaJJuigiain hud during me meet ingmadc the same suggestion “You're dealing with the concerns of people who live here” he said "We need short lists of what you're burning and in w hat form it’s being transported We need to know what the hazards are and what the EPA requires We need simplified short lists in fourth grade language telling us and properties ” about dust Heap agreed by explaining that many common household items taken for granted qualify for hazardous categorization "Drano isn’t hazardous if you're using it to clean your house But when you w ant to get rid of half a can then it becomes hazardous waste” Ash Grove concentrated on discuss products such as ing and tires paint thinners nail polish “We have to get rid of all of these solvents" Heap staled reminding the group that the majority of people still pour what they can’t use of these toxic materials down their water drains and directly into the water systems "We propose burning what has been previously dumped into landfills rivers and streams Businesses cannot afford to be blaze anymore Those days arc over” Heap went on to state that “most industrial countncs that I know about are either thinking about or actively fuels: Germany burning " Italy Canada Thorpe Waddingham concurs that major changes are due "We’re passing the line where we can say that we’ll conttnuc to live our lifestyle and not take care of what we throw away" (Thorpe admits that his “real fear is the County landfill and what goes into it and how that will affect our groundwa ter”) Seeking to assure nervous attendees Ken Ware added- “It is our purpose to make cement It is impractical for us to bum products like herbicides pesticides and radioactives that won’t melt our materials” Ware contmued by saying“We feel a good compromise would be to bum solids only They come in small containers (six gallons) and won’t disperse easily thereby reducing the threat of a spill" "What we’re talking about here" added Heap “is not burning of wastes but replacing one solid fuel for another The constituents of coal and solid w astes are the same the amount of lead in oil and tires arc the same as if coal is used" Gordon Nielsen an opponent to the concept of using cement kilns as hazardfuel incinerators ous wastcallemative stated that he had asked a state official how solid wastes differed from liquHs “I w as told the solids were more concentrated" said Nielsen CommisDiscussing the matter sioner Lana Moon expressed concerns ov cr the discrepancy of a company burning hazardous wastes under the guise of alternative fuels "They’re coming in the back door We would have been better off if they had built a hazardous waste plant cause then it would be monitored and controlled The critei a is different for a cement kiln " Mixin further stated that"Wc'U have an company burning out of state hazardous wastes They're getting all the benefits and we'll be getting all ” the risks Moon also expressed concerns over the seemingly strange bedfellow implication of Sue Ferry promoting and working for Ash Grove while being married to Depart nent of Agriculture director “Cap" Ferny a nan who reprewonder sents the farmingcommunity’T how many farmers will look at that and think it's okay" (Representative Mixdy stated that in the political world such differing but close relationships arc not uncommon ) 'Heap suessed Lhesafcty clcmcntsof Ash Groves proposal engineers are quite capable of controlling emissions from toxic materials Measurements and monitoring occurs all the time" He further stated that "current emissions from the plant would reduce from present levels because of the constant " monitoring “99 99 percent of fuel must be de- ' stroyed by government requirements Ash Grove goes to 99 9999 percent Or from every truck load of fuel only one tablespoon would remain” The issue of possible contamination of the County’s w atcr supply was the big issue at the meeting with air emissions running a close second "Water is where it’s at" stated Ken Fowles Delta Canal Company president Clyde Bunker pounded “How do I go to my stockholders when the residents voted over-helmingly against the burning of hazardous wastes? I’m concerned because don’t know what I’m talking about" Ken Fowlcs expressed a serious concern “No matter what your levels arc f it comes out of your stack and onto my hay and my hay shows anything then can't sell it to California or Japan If can’t ship my hay out then I’m out of business” Heap stated that he had experiences w uh Japanese buyers who looked for any perceived imperfection in order to reduce his asking price for 'he coal he routinely shipped to Japan “We’ll have to figure out what an acceptable standard would be” said Scott Frecbum suggesting that those attending the dinner request written specifications from their buyers as to the maximum allowable levels of acceptable metals While discussing the meeting several days after the event Commissioner Frank B aker stated that he had “no problem" with the issue “We don’t want hazardous wastes in Millard County or by a stream coming into Millard County" “I thought it was cut and dried I hope we ha ve a strong voice in the leg islature If we don’t then we're in big trouble We had the support of Peterson and Moody If we don’t now I’ll have to remind them of what their job is" "We crossed this bridge a long time ago” Representative Moody sponsor of House Bill 16 which seeks to establish permanent criteria on hazardous waste stated that his bill will incinerators continue forward through legislation unchanged Ash Grove’s spokesperson acknowledged the debate will continue to bum for some time “We’ve always had public input and open discussion We haven’t been sneaking around" "I think we've been responsible all along and we’ll continue to be responsible in the future" The impasse language and political promise to remain a maneuvering heated subject for some time |