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Show Cities Not So Sure About Bum Plant By TOM BL'SSELBERG LAYTON -- The Layton City Council, like their slightly bigger brother in Bountiful, continues to express ex-press reservations when it comes to the proposed Clearfield burn plant. I.N FACT, they've set a Thursday meeting with an Ogden energy firm that could answer the council's two expressed major concerns: cost and timing for the $66-5100 million Clearfield plant being advocated by Wasatch Front Regional Council and some environmental en-vironmental health officials. In the 6 p.m. session, Alan Neves, president, and Don Curtis, project manager for Biomass International Interna-tional will, in Mr. Curtis' words, "give a briefing of a potential biomass conversion process." THAT INVOLVES utilizing the municipal solid waste "stream," separating it into components and primarily recovering cardboards and paper, converting convert-ing that to glucose (sugar) and fermenting it into ethynal for sale as a type of alcohol, Mr. Curtis explained in a telephone interview. "It hasn't been used anywhere else because the technology is new," he said, noting in all "probabil- ity the plant would be-built with private funds. We simply want to show the council a potential solution" solu-tion" for their garbage needs. THE FIRM has also discussed similar possibilities with the Bountiful Area Refuse District and Bountiful Bounti-ful officials with that council also raising strong concerns con-cerns against going with the Clearfield project. And while each city in the county is being asked to indicate their intentions of joining the Clearfield plant or not by Aug. 28, Layton Mayor Lewis G. Shields says "I'm not going to support either way until the council tells me which way to go." THERE ARE some strong feelings on his council, with Ann Harris among the quickest to raise questions. ques-tions. She attended a Massachussetts Institute of Technology seminar, recently, where burn plants were viewedjn a case study. A Mississippi plant had been builYixr2Q years projected life but now's determined deter-mined "won't last 18 years" although the bonds were sold for 20 years payback. "The (class) professor said the technology is not there yet" when it comes to burn plants, she related, saying four-five years more would be needed to obtain the proper technology, according to the professor. pro-fessor. And the Mississippi plant, serving nearly as many people cost only $12 million, she added. A LANDFILL will still be necessary, Mrs. Harris said, and if Layton dropped its garbage there it would be scooped up by the burn plant, the mayor said And as far as pressure to join, goes, Council ' Sam Trujillo reminded his associates the cityCo , enlist whenever it wants. In the meantime, thou!? burn plant official s-who would own NARD ! North Area Refuse Dump-could raise tipping fe'e. . the dump. THOSE ARE the sorts of concerns that have the council to seek other solutions, such as Teledyne National in Weber County, burn operators there. "If Bountiful and Layton don't join (the pr0pow Clearfield) system, that'll be 47-48 percent of , h garbage," Mayor Shields said, expressing interest the Biomass possibility, calling Layton's garj "like gold" and the plant could be built in the :k docks, not necessarily close to a populated area o 'I ' HAFB, such as the county's plant. ' $ |