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Show Commission Resents 'Short Notice' on Coal Hearings BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK Garfield County commissioner Dell LeFevre, Boulder, stated that he "felt totally unprepared for and inadequately notified about a recent two day briefing on the Alton Coal Field Project held at Bryce Canyon National Park July 7 and in Kanab on July 8. LeFevre was one of several Garfield County officials and residents expressing resentment and indignation that the responsible agencies for planning the two day session failed to significantly include representatives of Garfield and Kane counties, the two counties which would be most affected by the development of the Alton Coal Project or other coal development in the area. LeFevre stated that he felt he had not been given a true picture of the importance of the two sessions considering the potential of the impact of coal development on the economy of Garfield County. He said he had not been made aware of the scope of the meetings or of the large number and significant status of the individuals who would be attending. Five aircraft, transporting approximately 30 agency representatives, touched down at Bryce Canyon Airport about 1:30 p.m. Monday. These included three assistant secretaries of the Department of the Interior, Guy Martin, Joan Davenport, and Robert Herbst, who were joined by 30 more persons traveling by car. They gathered at Bryce Canyon Lodge auditorium to hear each agency representative explain the agency role in the decision-making process on coal development in the area, near Bryce A typical scene this past year at county commission meeting were Garfield commissioners Wallace Canyon National Park, bringing those present completely up-to-date on the project. Garfield County commissioners had received a one paragraph letter from Von Swain, district manager for the Cedar City District of the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, about one week before the scheduled meetings. The letter stated that the three assistant secretaries of the Interior Department and "other area department officials" would be attending. In the correspondence, commissioners and "other local government officials," who did not receive letters, were invited to attend a one and one-half hour no-host luncheon in Kanab on the second day of the schedule. The purpose of the luncheon was to "allow local officials to meet the assistant secretaries and express their concerns related to the development of the Alton Coal Field and the associated Allen Warner Valley Project." Local officials felt excluded from the Monday afternoon briefings at Bryce as well as Tuesday morning's inspection tour from Bryce Canyon through the Alton coal field to Kanab having received no specific invitation to either. Commissioner LeFevre, who attended the Tuesday "get-acquainted" luncheon in kanab, stated that he felt ( Continued on Page 3 Ott, George Middleton and Dell LeFevre working closely with BLM manager Morgan Jensen. Commissioners Resent (Continued from Page 1) the more important issues of the project had apparently been more seriously addressed at the earlier briefing on Monday afternoon and on the Tuesday morning tour. After realizing the full scope of the two day session involving a myriad of government agencies including BLM, EPA, National Park Service, Forest Service, State of Utah, Department .of Natural Resources, Utah State Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, Museum Concerns, environmentalist groups, as well as private interests such as Nevada Power, California Public Utilities, and Utah International many Garfield County residents regretted that input from local representatives was not more seriously and carefully sought as a contribution to the proceedings. The Alton Project is a proposed surface and underground coal mine and preparation plant that will serve as the fuel source for the Allen-Warner Valley Energy System. The coal property is held jointly by Utah International Inc. and the Nevada Electric Investment Company. Utah International will be the operating and managing partner. The Alton steam coal deposit is . located in Kane County in south central Utah. The center of the 28,000-acre property is 31 miles north of Kanab, the county seat. Elevations range from 6,500 to 7,200 feet above sea level. The area includes leased federal, state and private lands, most of which are unimproved rangeland, supervised by the Bureau of Land Management. |