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Show Alton Coal Developer Closes Area Office, Vows Future Project Utah International, Inc., the company that wants to develop coal in the controversial Alton coal field south of Bryce Canyon National Park is closing its Kanab office according to project manager John Ferrell. Ferrell, in a conversation this week from the company's home office in San Francisco, told Garfield County news that in view of Nevada Power's decision to delay construction of the proposed 2,000 megawatt Harry Allen power plant until 1994, Utah International determined to close the Kanab office. It will be moved to Farmington, N.M. but Ferrell said the company wanted to assure local residents that it was not abandoning its plans to develop the coal in the Alton field. Coal from the Alton field will supply both the proposed Harry Allen plant 25 miles northeast of Las Vegas and the proposed Warner Valley plant 13 miles southeast of St. George. The two electric generating plants are to be a part of the Allen-Warner Valley System. Ferrell said that the utility company had overestimated the Hoping to better serve the residents of southern Utah, Garfield County Commissioner Dell LeFevre accepted the ' decision of the Governor's ' Advisory Council on Ccmmunity Affairs which voted him this . ' year's vice-chairman. load growth in various service sectors and that lack of population growth, conservation measures, conscientious energy use, and significant technological improvements have combined to use less power than anticipated when plans were initially devised for both plants. Utah International plans to stay in close touch with local people and Ferrell says that an upswing in the economy could move the project ahead. The Alton Project is a proposed surface coal mine and appreciation plant that would serve as the fuel source of both power plants. The coal property is held jointly by Nevada Electric Investment Company and Utah International, Inc. UI will be the operating and managing partner when the project ultimately gets the go ahead. The coal field, located in Kane County, encompasses 28,000 acres with the center approximately 31 miles north of Kanab. The area includes leased federal, state and private lands, most of which are unimproved rangeland supervised by the Bureau of Land Management. |