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Show 41-- l 1VCG 7.CJ'C, 3rd So. J:. SiC, ut. (4111 featuring h Entsftamment 12 Gu d 15t Pages Coal gasification plant planned for Emery Co. When it rains it pours. When this energy country booms, it seems to explode. The latest proposal comes from Mountain Fuel Supply Company. They are beginning preliminary work on a mammoth coal gasification plant near Emery in Emery County. The potential size of the project dwarfs almost everything else in the area. A one unit plant would cost at least $250 million to build, according to Mountain Fuel director of research and development, Dr. Ralph Coates. This figure is almost three times the assessed valuation of the entire county in 1977. The proposed site could house up to five such units, according to B.Z. Kastler, Mountain Fuel president. If developed to this potential, the entire project would cost a staggering $1.25 billion, and consume five million tons of coal and 10,000 acre feet of water every year, Kastler said in a letter to the Utah Energy Con- servation & Council. Development The water would come from Creek and the Green River via a pipeline, Kastler said in his letter. The company is preparing the ground work for preliminary approval for the project. They have asked the energy council for (Continued on Page 9) Muddy Holiday Inn backers ask city for bonds Financiers of the proposed Holiday Inn asked the Price City Council to float industrial bonds to finance their construction project. Their request drew an angry response Irene Welch of Price is carried from the East Carbon Senior once causing minor injuries to three occupants Wednesday Citizens van after a rock slide in the Price Canyon forced the afternoon. (Staff photo by Scott Caldwell), vehicle off of the road. The van was spun around and rol led over Van caught in rock slide; three hurt Price Senior Citizens Center van with three persons inside was caught by a rock slide in Price A canyon Wednesday afternoon. The van was returning from Scofield when a rock slide occurred from the top of the cut on the vans right side, according to the Utah Highway Patrol report. The rocks slid into the right back side of the ban spinning it counterclockwise off of the road where it rolled over once. The driver never saw the rock slide, UHP Sgt. Billie Hunt said. The driver, Jack Mac Hart, 51, UP&L generator impact described by Carol Thompson Staff Writer The impact of the proposed Utah Power and Light generating plant in Wellington has been examined in some detail in a report published by the Bureau of Land Management. The report is BLMs environmental impact statement concerning the expansion of the Hunter plant in Castle Dale. The BLM examined the impact of developing alternative sites instead of adding on to the Hunter plant. One of these alternative sites was Wellington. The report looks at the consequences of building two - 500 megawatt units in Wellington, which is half of the potential capacity for the site. Although UP&L does not plan to develop by approximately additional housing units would need to be available. It is the Wellington site until it estimated that approximately 790 students would move into the Carbon School District and would require about 30 additional teachers. The Carbon School District, according to the report, currently has 4,300 students and is operating at 93 percent of its capacity. The most visible impact of the plant would be pollution. The Emery County Schools would experience an increase of approximately 2,600 students and require 28 more teachers. The report states that the county currently has 2,635 students and is operating at 82 percent of its completes all additions to Hunter, the report does give an idea of what the future holds for Carbon County when construction begins in Wellington. environmental impact report states that two 500 megawatt towers would emit 14.5 tons of sulphur dioxide, 81.0 tons of nitrogen dioxide and 5.3 tons of particulate matter each day. The report says that these emissions would affect visibility in the area. Utah Power and Light estimates a 35 - year life span for the plant. During this time approximately 82 million tons of coal would be consumed by the plant. When peak construction would be occurring, an additional 6,000 people would move into the Price area. Approximately 4,500 of these people would remain when employment demands leveled off. During the peak construction years an additional 2,280 jobs would be created. This would level off to about 2,160 when the generators are in operation. Personal income would also r Jeff Moscow News Editor million and would level off to about $28.1 million when the plant is in operation. Because of the increase in population, more housing and more school facilities would be needed. During the peak years of 2,000 Nita Gillespie, 43, Price, were transported to Carbon Hospital where they were treated for scrapes and bruises and released. The other passenger, Irene Welch, 47, Price, was held overnight at Carbon Hospital for observation. There was no driver error, it was just one of those things, Sgt. Hunt said. There were two eyewitnesses to the accident who confirmed MacHarts story, he said. Three or four rocks that probably weighed about 500 the van, Sgt. Gmnds apiece hit local motel independent investor Thornton Morris, brought a prepared resolution with them in hopes that the council would take immediate action. The motel owners protested the idea. We dont think that these people should be able to come in sponsored by the city to compete against people who have lived here all their lives, said Nyal Stamoulis of the Mission Motel.' The council decided to hold a special meeting on the issue Monday, March 12. In other action, the council: formally approved the increase in electric rates adopted at the councils last meeting. (Continued on Page 9) Zephyr hearing draws spirited crowd increase. Currently, the personal income in Carbon and Emery Counties in $128 million per year. Construction of the plant would increase personal income by $44.8 development, Price, and passenger from owners. Two Salt Lake City men approached the council Wednesday night and proposed that the city use its power to obtain municipal bonds and turn the money over to the developers. The construction cost of the planned motel is estimated $2.5 million. The advantage of such an arrangement to the developers lies in the amount of money it would have to pay in interest rates. With industrial bonds the developers would pay around eight percent interest. If the construction is financed through private sources, interest rates could be as high as 14 percent. The two men, Kent Mitchie of Zions First National Bank and capacity. It is projected that two Around 170 people crowded into the Helper City Auditorium Wednesday morning to protest plans to halt service of the Rio Grande Zephyr. Interstate Commerce Com- mission Judge Warrren White said the crowd represented a great outpouring for a community this size. The formal hearings were part of a fact - finding effort by the ICC to determine whether to allow the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company to discontinue its three - times - a - week service between Grand Junction and Salt Lake City. Judge White said that the large crowd would be a factor in the ICC verdict, which will be made by May 13. These people have made a pretty good case that they need the train, White said. It is helpful. If no one had shown up, it (the train) would be gone. The 15 people who testified before the judge gave a spirited defense of the train. Their speeches were often punctuated by applause from the audience. Only a company official spoke in favor of the railroads proposal. Moab mayor Harold Jacobs opened the testimony. He presented the hearing officer with a packet of letters from Moab citizens, all protesting the company plans. He included a petition signed by Moab residents and told Judge White, I am told that Japan has an excellent train service and I think that we should be able to keep up with Japan. I like free enterprise. But I think public transportation could come closer to meeting our needs. When Frank Tomsic of Helper took the stand, company lawyer John Walker questioned him whether he tought it was fair that a company should be forced to continue an operation that was losing money. The railroad claims that it would lose $1 million this year on the Utah route. Tomsic, who owns a glass store, I lose money on responded, commercial glass but make it up on auto glass. Thats just like you. You lose money on the passenger train, but make it up on coal. Then Gary Tomsic, executive director of the Southeast Utah Association of Governments, told the audience, The point is that southeastern Utah is not just a vacant space through which the railroad runs. It has always been and will continue to be a major factor in the total corporate success of the company. The money made by railroad ad- ditional doctors and two more dentist would be needed in the area. Increased population would result in more traffic congestion and more road damage, the report states. Recreational areas would also feel the impact of the increased population due to the development of the Wellington plant. The increase in population would mean more people fishing, hunting and using existing recreational facilities. Overcrowding of these facilities cause physical deterioration of improvements could and environments. The report states that "this would decrease the quality of the recreation experience. Officials from federal, state (Continued on Page 9) Moab Mayor Harold Jacobs, left, answers a question from Rio Grande lawyer John Walker during the Zephyr hearings Thursday morning in Helper. freight in this region far overshadows any losses they might incur in providing passenger service. Tomsic theorized that the company had made its own problems. It reminds me of the story of the small boy who, after killing his mother and father, pleaded to the court for leniency because he was an orphan. After killing their passenger service with neglect and lack of support, the railroad throws itself to the ICC and pleads to be relieved of its self - made albatross. Tomsic also presented a petition to the commission signed by 500 Carbon County residents protesting discontinuation of the Zephyr. Attorney Margret Taylor and others praised the service offered by the train and the scenery along (Continued on Page 9) |