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Show Tuesday 311 (ji 11 1th Year June 4, 2002 Kt - - 4 r - i' - . t j,, -- Price, Utah No. 45 500 A AfrStQtO D8S6DSB ptayBTS namOQ, 0 . Counties discuss water at Skyline ing just a little over even on the costs they are incurring because By RICHARD SHAW Staff reporter A meeting last Friday between representatives of Carbon, Emery and Sanpete counties at the Skyline mine site offices may result in unprecedented action by the three governments on the subject of water. After a lengthy discussion this morning, we made some tentative decisions about how to begin to explore the possibilities that this new resource can offer us all, commented Carbon Commissioner Bill Krompel on Friday afternoon. As a group, the counties are going to ask for some money from the community impact board to do a feasibility study on the possibilities for drilling up to six wells in the area of Flat Canyon to the coal field in the area, continued Krompel. The situation with the water being a problem in Skyline mine began last year when miners ran into a water pocket while removing the black resource about 800 feet below Electric Lake. Within a couple of days, that section of the mine was flooded and the company began searching for ways to handle the problem. The mine was closed to regular The collisions fuel. of the tanker the operations for a few weeks betruck transporting diesel damaged impact cause of the water, but eventually and the fuel leaked onto the highway, delaying traffic for more than seven hours. the company was able to place some large pumps in the mine itself as well as drill a we 11 from the surface in James Canyon. When pumping operations began, it was estimated by the comThe front compartment on the ambulance transported Burke to pany that the pumps were throw-m- g out between 812JXX) gallons truck had fuel in it and almost Castleview, with scrapes and cuts ofwater per minute. The level fiimmediately spilled out. The rear and a sore ankle. Burke remained under observation at the hospital nally dropped enough for coal retrailer stayed upright, but was semoval operations to begin again, until fuel and Friday. steadily verely damaged Both drivers of the smaller vebut the problem persists in the area dripped from it The accident occurred almost hicles and two passengers in and another area where the company intends to move operations exactly at milepost 259 and Utah Luceros Corsica were wearing Highway Patrol TYooper Joe seatbelts. The passengers were not at some time in the future. One interesting thing about the Vfesquez was less than ahalfamile injured. The tank truck driver was water that is being pumped out of from the scene when mishap ocnot buckled in. Crews pumped the fuel out of the mine is its age. According to curred. some preliminary carbon dating I was headed northbound the tankers and the trailer was retests that have been done the wawhen I got the call, saidVbsquez. moved along with the Corsica beThey said milepost 259 on the fore the road was opened back up ter could be between 6,000 to radio and I thought it must be be12JXX) years old. Thursday night. Concerns about the water poshind me, so I spun the cruiser The truck and SUV remained around And then I found out the until Friday, when the vehicles sibly draining down from EJertric incident was right on top of the were separated and taken away. Lake have also been somewhat alThe cleanup of the diesel layed because tests for the tritium, marker, so I had to turn around soaked roadside will take a few a trace isotope of hydrogen which again. However, Vfesquez was the not days longer to complete, however. is produced by hydrogen bomb first emergency responder on the All the soil will have to be dug up tests, and which shows up in all surface water on the planet, have scene. A Moab paramedic travelby HAZMAT crews and hauled showed very little in the water beaway. ing in a private vehicle stopped and was the first to start to give ing pumped ouL Vksquez, who was the investiaide to the two injured victims. The effort by the three coungating officer in the mishap, indiThe driver of the truck was able cated that Stoney wascited for opties, while seemingly a possible solution toawater battle that has to crawl out of the cab and walked erating a vehicle left of the center between Carbon and Sanpete away with minor scrapes and line in connection with the accbruisesL Lucero was transported to ident The truck driver was also isfor more than one-ha- lf a century, Castleview Hospital with the frad-- sued a dtatkm for not keeping his' is muchmore than that alone: tures bones. Four hours later, an logbook up to date. The mine is presently break de-wat-er Emergency personnel and rescue crews assist U.S. Highway 6 last Thursday. The three-vehic- le a victim injured in an accident on mishap involved a semi-tank- er Accident spill disrupts traffic flow along U.S. 6 inside the SUV for almost four hours before emergency crews could get the victim freed. FortuAn accident involving nately, the womans injuries were tanker truck, a car and a sports relatively minor. The mishap occurred when the utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 6 caused traffic to be rerouted northbound tank truck driven by CarKelly Stoney, 41 of Ogden, reportthrough the Columbia-Ea- st bon area for more than seven edly crossed the center line and hours last Thursday. nearly collided head on with a The mishap, which occurred at 1995 Chevrolet Corsica driven by approximately 4 p.m. on May 30, Regina Lucero, 31 ofWest Jordan. The impact threw the Corsica blocked the road primarily beoff the west side of die road and cause ofthe threat of the flammability of diesel fuel spilled on the trapped Lucero in the vehicle for almost an hour with abroken leg highway when the truck crashed as well as the fuel dripping from and toe. Rescue personnel had to cut the rear trailer after the accident. The situation was so concernaway the roof of the vehicle and bend it back to extract die victim. ing that fire tighten from WellingAfter the truck hit the Corsica, ton and Price were dispatched to die scene, along with rescue crews. Stoney apparently tried to turn Officers from Wellington, East back to the right. But the semi Carbon, the Carbon County started to go off the road and the trocker purportedly overcorrected Sheriffs Office and Utah Highalso scene to the left Patrol on die were way The truck started to jack knife at checkpoints to control the trafand purportedly struck a Nissan fic backup. Utah Department afRanspor-tatio- n Pathfinder driven by Shannon crews and Burke, 25 of Park City. The impact forced the SUV off somelstoodbyfbrthreehoursbefore starting to dean up thcispilF'the roadand the iruck idled onto because an occupant was trapped the vehicle, trapping Burke inside. By RICHARD SHAW Staff reporter en-su- ed of this water, said Krompel. They will be moving out of that section of the mine soon, but the long term future of Skyline may very well lay in what can be done to alleviate the water problem. In the next few months, the company will be closing down the section where the water is a problem and will be moving into the old Winter Quartets mine area, where it is reported that the conditions are much drier. The coal in that area will keep operations going for five to six years, at the rate of about four million tons per year. However, the next section the company will be moving into after that is under Flat Canyon, and it appears to be wetter than the present area in which they are mini- ng- The company pays over $1 million dollars a year in property taxes to the three counties in which it operates right now, pointed out Krompel. The mine employs over 300 people in the area and, in addition, pays millions of dollars a year in mineral lease royalties, part of which comes back to all the counties involved. The possibility of finding more water for use in the area would be an extra to keeping those jobs, the mineral lease moneys and property taxes for the counties involved. But to begin with the water i the problem and an opportunity at the same time. The water is locked up in a formation called the Star Fbint sandstone formation and the area it occurs in averages ' about 700 feet in depth. It is bounded by faults. Rough preliminary estimates of the size of the water field is about 75 square miles. Krompel pointed out that with all the water that the mine is presently pumping out, quite an impact has been made on Scofield Reservoir this past year. I talked with Mark Page (state water engineer) this morning and he told me that 75 percent of the inflow into the reservoir this year has come from what the mine has been pumping, said Krompel. "That's about 15,000 acre feet this year. Without that think of the trouble we would be in. But the present water flow from the mine cannot go on forever. As the mine begins to move out of the section it is presently in, the amount ofwater pumped out will be decreased until it becomes minimal. For the present, the water is being taken out of the mine and flows info Ecdes Creek, then on ' intd Clear Creek and ends up in (Continued on page 3) Price representatives explain irrigation water program ' By KEN LARSON Sun Advocate publisher Mayor Joe Piccolo is sendinga letter to all Price city water users reminding residents that there are irrigation methods besides sprin-Ide- is and urging citizens tobe considerate of the program. the past, the Salt Lake Tnbunfs civic beautification oom-liutthas presented Price city an ee award for its beautification, mints out Piccolos letter. Wfc, as a community, deserve this yward You, as residents, do an efodlent job in keepingyoiir yards aftd businesses well kept and attractive. 'The mayors letter requests neighborhood efforts in mamtain-in- g die city. In particular, irriga-tk- nl and storm water flows. Since the formation erf Price, canal has the provided irrigation water to farm-ers, explains dty engineer Gary Sonntag, Depending on needs, water flows between May 1 and OcLl through the dty. Only the area below the canal, located at ap- -' 400North, receives i water. Price-Wellingt- on frioe-Wsllingt- on board to main- tain portions of the canal located within the city limits. This includes weed removal and some fencing. There are 178 people in the city who have shares in the Canal and can use die water to irrigate property. According to Sonntag, there are at least 25 gates that deliver water through about 200 ditches that run off in various directions. Price-Wellingt- on ,'JditchGtybudgetscallforafull-timis e master who responsible for the maintenance of the gutters, ditches and water turns. In addition, an administrative person manages the system. The employees are Jim Valdez and Brianna Welch. Vkldez1 job involves getting water into the gutters and ditches within the public right of way, including street! and alleys. Users assume the responsibility to provide ameans to take water from the gutten and ditches within the public right of ways and convey it fo the points of use. The water users break down into share owners or people renting or leasing' shares, explains Welch. If residents own canal shares, users must provide certificates and die dty win issue water turns on gfintxome, first serve basis, depending on the number of shares. suits additional expenses for Price People with water shares paya turn fee of $22 ayear to the city. Vhldez, the ditch master, works with the program between May 1 and Oct 1. He is responsible to keep the gates opened and dosed. Residents with shares who have paid turn fees have access to tire water. The city supports wise water use, even with irrigation wa- dty. Prices priority is to keep water flowing. So when the citygetsa call indicating that a grate is blocked or a ditch is flooding, no matter water time it is, crews can respond to dear up the problem. ter. Vfeldez jobtomonitorwateris often made difficult because of problems he faces in maintaining the flows. Lately, there has been an increased accumulation of debris in gutters, ditches and grates. Many people are putting dippings, tree branches andpaper products as well as pop cans and cups in the gutters and ditches. Not only does this make the dty look unpleasant, it wreaks havoc with the smooth flow of water by causing ditches, gutters andoreahotdrircwayappiciadies to flood, said Sonntag. Price dty crews often have to be called out on overtime to keep the areas deai, thus increasing the cost of maintenance, punted out Spnntag. The programs budget is based on a work week. But when employees get called out after hours, the situation re-40-ho- Besides the obvious problems ofkeeping the water flowing, dty crews also run info situations such as: Individuals who do not have shares attempting to use irrigation water. People taking water without paying a turn fee. Residents giving water away to neighbors and friends. Individuals taking water when it is not scheduled. , Another problem iswhen property owners are flooded because irrigation users do not control or maintain gates or aitcnes. When the dty attempts to resolve the problems, the individuals all too often become irritated and sometimes threatening. The matters are referred to the police. According to Sonntag, Price officials are petitioning all irrigation users and citizens to workwith the city in keeping die flow of irrigation water efficient so the program can continue. ' ev-- 25 ifi Price city employe Dennis Rogers cleans debris fromagrate on the comer of 400 East and 400 South. Much of the trash in tho grates is a result of citizens dumping grass clippings and other yard debris by the curb. The cities gutters are used to transport irrigation water to users and the practice of dumping compounds the problem that city crews face in keeping the water flowing to where it should gor :.?v . |