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Show r - r- - xri . . N university or utah LIBRARIES DEC 71977 I3RW.S ORDER DEPT. THE r Won-Do- pleads or to take going youre my land "But did we realize," he little ranging near $350,000. The on again, off again controversy surrounding the Vitro tailings in South Salt Lake is gathering steam once again. This time a company r called Corp. finds itself tangled in a radioactive Catch-2- 2 and an unwilling participant in reverse condemnation. added, "that once we moved out, no one else would be permitted to move in." Smart said the County Board of Health has told interested buyers, in essence, "when the Smarts move out, Won-Doo- you a manufac- Won-Doo- r, turer of operating door systems and folding doors, would like to expand its business at 2315 So. 9th W. But a County Board of Health moratorium on new construction within a half mile radius of the Vitro cant move in. Smarts plant is located practically on top of the tailings pile. (See aerial photo below.) The way Smarts attor- ney, Walter Faber, describes is the situation, Won-Doo- r damned if it does, and damned if it doesnt. A growing business must have room to stretch its cramped limbs, but a freeze on new construction from exprecludes Won-Doo- r panding. And building a new (jCfiOOO square foot, $1.5 million plant some distance away doesnt do Smart much good if he cant sell the one hes leaving. Smart feels he is being forced into reverse condemnation, believing perhaps his (See WON-DOOpage 14) R, site, approximately 3300 S. 9th W., quelled plans for merely expanding the present r found and facility. purchased a new site at S65 Won-Doo- 1 jM i'&M m Par S$k&S!SsSi j..ed lailings of a uranium mill long since abandoned are causing both economic and potential health hazards. Construction of the new plant is underway and it will be at least another month ' v P before ployccsmovein. said president Jay Smart. As most business people in his situation do, Smart posted a "For Sale sign and began looking for buyers of the 27,000 square feet of space contained in three buildings. c. Four good offers "We've had about four good offers, Smart said, plant , identified by the arrow, is located only a stones throw away from the litro tailings . Won-Door- 's Shut up or put up actually. Nobody said anything about threads. Nobody called anybody a liar. But by the time the afternoon was over, a Mountain Fuel Supply Co. official had warned the Committee of Consumer Services that if the committee didnt stop its meddling, consumer gas bills could more than double. The committee turned around and filed a motion before the Public Service Commission accusing the utility of refusing to "candidly reveal information. Express concern The occasion was a recent committee meeting at which VOLUME 7 NUMBER 22 Mountain Fuel executive vice president John Crawford appeared to express "some concern over the committees apparent interest in pursuing the WEXPRO issue. WEX-PRis Mountain Fuel's oil exploration subsidiary, formed last December to handle "non-utilit- y accounts for the benefit of the companys stockholders, as opposed to ratepayers who would share only in natural gas discoveries. Since last summer it has been the subject of argument before the Public Service O, Commission. After outlining a brief history of the utility and its operations, Crawford present- ed statistics showing how the companys exploration pro The Enterprise did a good deed last week by being as ever on top of the news. reBecause our sharp-eye- d porter had kept better track of city ordinances on utility tax than some people in city government had, one local business will probably save $3,400 a year. Doubling of the citys utility tax this year caused hardship for companies like Valley Storage Co. which is heavily dependent on energy. Valley refrigerates food, most of it frozen, and its power bill amounts to $86,400 a year. Thats 18 percent of its annual revenue of $480,000. Citv tax on that power A comes to about $7,000. comparable business outside the city would pay only half as It was a difficult much. burden for Valley. Valley president Ralph Dunklcy saw something in the paper one day about a limit on the amount of tax that must be paid. He wasnt sure exactly what it was, so he called the City Recorders office. They didn't know about the limit, but offered to let him research their records. Dunkley didnt think that was a good idea because he wouldnt know where to look. The person in the Recorder's office then suggested he call Finance Commissioner Jennings MFS warns skeptical consumers It was all quite polite, deserves another V S. 3480 W. Wpn-Doo-'- One good turn gram has benefited consumers. To wit: if gas for MFS customers had been purchased from field suppliers between 1960 and 1976 at market rates, consumer costs would have increased by $74 million more than they actually did. If purchased from piplinc suppliers, the increase would have been $123 million, acThe cording to Crawford. savings resulted from "cost of service prices the company got by obtaining gas from its own nonutility wells (wells placed in its nonutility account because their product value came more from gas than oil). The cost of service price The (mef), Crawford said. average field price is $1.10 per met and the average pipeline price $1.46. And apparently, the Carter administration's energy plan calls for raising it to at least $1.75 mef and to over $3 eventually. Over that period, rates were lowered between $185.4 and $234.4 million, Crawford asserted, and the exploration program also pro- 16-ye- ar Phillips' office. Dunklcy did that. In fact, he did it four or five times without reaching the commissioner or someone who could help. Finally, someone from Phillips office called back, saying the commissioner had told him to. Dunklcy asked, "Is there not a limit on the amount of tax I must pay? No, said the man from Phillips' office. Hadnt there been some-(Sc- c GOOD DEED, page 6) in 1976 from MFS was forty cents per thousand cubic feet MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1977 50 CENTS |