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Show THE ZEPHYR JUNE 1990 Smaller designated sites will also be established along the river, from Dewey to Potash, and along the Kane Springs Road. All other sites, used now for camping, would be restricted to day use only and would be enforced by BLM personnel. The funding request from Congress would pay for the facilities, but It Is hoped that personnel costs would be covered by monies generated from camping fees. If the money Is appropriated, construction could begin In the summer of 1991 and be ready by the beginning of the 1992 tourist season. Before any decisions are made, public hearings will be held to allow citizen Input In the decision-maki- ng process. PAGE 23 Medical Waste Incinerator in Green River what happened? by Lance Christie Anasazi ruins for sale The Utah Division of State Lands snd Forestry recently received an application to parcels of land near Mule Canyon on Cedar Mesa and a 210-ac- re purchase two 640-ac- re parcel hear Recapture Wash, north of Blandlng. The parcels of land are rich In Ansazl ruins and artifacts, but apparently their existence Is not an overriding factor In deciding whether to sell the lands. In an Interview with the Deseret News, and writer Jerry Spangler, Division Director Pat Spurgln stated, There Is a public process we are going through that allows all viewpoints to be heard. The Division Imposes no requirements for mitigation of the cultural resources once the land Is sold. "If we Impose a set of requirements upon state lands, like archeological mitigation, not are that Imposed on private lands, then the value of state lands Is relatively diminished. One of the proposal's most articulate opponents has been Owen Severance, a San Juan County resident and a highly regarded archeologist In a letter to Governor Bangerter, Severance explained the problem and his concerns: The first parcel on the list Is In Recapture Wash, above Recapture Reservoir. The Recapture Wash Archeological Project was the cultural resource mitigation project for the reservoir project That Investigation found a large number of archeological sites that were eligible for the National Register of Historic Places In the area around the reservoir site. The land proposed for transfer Is a short distance upstream from that area. On April 27 looked at part of Section 2 to see If the archeological site density was similar to the Recapture Reservoir area. In a short time (about three hours), I found a large number of archeological sites Including prehistoric rock art The two Sections In Township 37 are on Cedar Mesa In Southeastern Utah, one of the most Important archaeological areas In the United States. Section 32, In the Mule Canyon drainage was chained by the State In 1979 without a proper cultural resource clearance. As a result many unrecorded archaeological sites were disturbed. The State has never even attempted to record all of these damaged sites and now It wants to sell them. Section 36 Is nearby and undoubtedly also has a large number of significant archaeological sites that are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. If this land trade Is allowed to proceed, It will establish a precedent for selling archeological sites on State Land to the highest bidder. Why Is the Division of State Lands exempt from the States Antiquities Laws? What are you going to say when the grave robbers start plundering these cultural resources after the land becomes private property? Why should this Immoral situation be allowed to exist? Your action Is needed now to stop this travesty. I hope you will take action to stop this land transfer and have the State law changed to require the Division of State Lands to obey the States Antiquities Laws. 1 Concerned citizens should write: Governor Norman Bangerter, State Capitol Building, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114. I'm Dave Bierschied and Im running for county commissioner. In order for me to serve the citizens of Grand County, I need to know whats on your mind. If you have an opinion youd like to share with me, a new idea, a complaint, or any suggestion that can help me help our county, please give me a call or drop me a line. Thanks 411 Loveridge Dr. jSlj.lil.iM Tho commercial medical waste Incinerator In Green River has received Its state It has also changed ownership, was was a state monopoly on medical waste and handed completely (accidentally?) Incineration. The current engineering design and the resources and stated attitudes of Its owner, Earl Strother, create the possibility that the enterprise will be a good neighbor and economic boost However, there can be many a slip between theory and what you get Continental Thermal Destructors was originally formed by some Investors from New Jersey and Idaho, one of whom had a federal legal problem. Earl Strother was brought In because of his background In heavy construction, and because he had built a used tire Incinerator the Investors thought could be adapted for use In burning medical waste. It was this tire pyrolyzer which was presented In 1988 to the citizens of Green River, In the center of 24 acres of greenhouses. The Utah Air Quality Bureau rejected Continentals effort to get a permit for this retreaded tire pyrolyzer. According to Earl Strother, he recognized the profit potential In a property designed commercial medical waste Incinerator, buying out the old Continental Investors and having Energy Products of Idaho design a facility. Mr. Strother said his objective was to get a facility which would exceed both current and future regulatory requirements, thus putting him In a superior competitive position In the medical waste market The Air Quality Bureau Issued a permit for the Energy Products of Idaho Incinerator on August 7, 1989. Continental then applied for a Solid and Hazardous Waste permit design The Grand County officials and public had no Idea this was going on until October when we accidentally stumbled across news of the pending permit In the Solid and Hazardous Waste Bureau. It was November before any of the permit materials arrived In Grand County, and January 2, 1990, before we got a copy of the solid waste permit application to review. It seems that the materials we got were fragmentary. Looking at them, we Identified questions about the Incinerators design. It was clear that the local notification and public hearings required by state law had not been achieved. A number of public officials and citizens of Grand County demanded that the permitting process be redone In a proper manner so that our questions could be answered. We did not obtain a formal reversal of the Air Quality Permit The Air Quality Bureau sent a delegation down to a meeting In Grand County to hear our concerns, then arranged a meeting between me, Earl Strother, Energy Products of Idaho engineer Douglas M. Albertson, Bureau staff, and Mayor Hatt of Green River on March 6. In the report on that meeting I gave to the Grand County Commissioners, I said that the EPI engineer presented solid answers to the technical questions about the Incinerators design. I reminded the Commissioners that the Air Quality Permit process cannot address such questions as the possibility of a commercial waste Incinerator hampering other kinds of economic development because of adverse Impact on our areas marketing Image. State monitoring of the Incinerator Is minimal. After the Initial test bum during the first 90 days of operation, the next test bum Is five years later. A state Inspector Is to be mailed the strip recordings from monitoring equipment every three months In the Interim. If he looks at them and sees something fishy, he can order and unscheduled test will Continental pay a fee to Green River City, with which an Inspector will be hired. Mayor Hatt says the Inspector has the authority to shut the Incinerator down If It Is malfunctioning. The Inspectors job description says his main duty Is sampling ash from the Incinerator to see If It Is toxic. Since the Inspector's job depends on having an operating Incinerator, the Inspector would have a conflict In shutting It down. If the facility Is operated and maintained as Douglas Albertson prescribes In his It design, appears capable of keeping toxics and visible smoke out of the air. An eye needs to be kept on the facility to see that It Is operated and maintained as Intended. For example, the dally operating cycle has waste being loaded at 1,000 pounds an hour for sixteen hours, then reduced to gray ash for four hours by using a propane jet to maintain 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit The propane Is then turned off, the chamber cooled, and the ash removed. The chamber Is then supposed to be heated to 1,600 degrees with the jet before new waste Is put In. The secondary combustion chamber Is maintained at 1,800 to 2,100 degrees with another propane Jet If the operator decided to save money by cutting back on use of propane, toxic gases and smoke could be produced which would overwhelm the scrubbers and go out the stack. During the 1990 Legislature, Representative Lyon Introduced a bill to put a moratorium on permitting commercial medical waste Incinerators until the state came up with regulations for them, as 40 other states have done, but Utah has not Her bill never made It out of committee. Instead, Senator Rees's bill concerning hazardous waste Incinerator regulations got turned Into an omnbus bill which limited siting of all sorts of commercial waste facilities In Utah which would have to Import waste from other states to make money. The Legislature set a cutoff date for permit applications, after which the state would not consider any additional facility permit applications. The APTUS and USPCI commercial hazardous waste facilities In Tooele County, and the Continental medical waste Incinerator In Grand County, are the only facilities which can get permits under the new law! In effect, Continental became the official state medical waste Incinerator, Insuring state permit approval. A second Issue which Im told weighed heavily on our County Commission was Green River's talk of moving the part of Green River In Grand County Into Emery County through a ballot Initiative. Grand County has Invested money In developing an Industrial park on that land, and hopes to get an Industrial tax base out of K. Opposing Continental would add political fuel to Green Rivers efforts to secede the land from Grand County. However, a majority vote In Grand County In favor of succession would be required, no matter what the vote In Emery County, so this threat was hollow. Earl Strother says he has the financial resources to build the Incinerator, and does not need or want public financing. He says he still wants to build a greenhousing complex around the Incinerator, but has not made a decision about an operator for either the Incinerator or the greenhousing complex. He also speaks speculatively about making construction block out of the Incinerator ash If It Is not toxic, and of developing a commercial composting plant It remains to be seen If his excellent presentation Is followed by excellent performance. permits to build and operate. From 1988 to the present 259-821- 7 A "state-of-the-a- rt" |