Brigham
City residents on proposed landfill: 'How many times
do we have to say no?'
By Rebecca
Hansen
April 6, 2009 | BRIGHAM CITY -- Emotions
ran high as the County Council heard opinions from citizens
on the possible future of the Little Mountain landfill
at a public comment meeting.
"How would you like it [a regional
landfill] in your backyard?" Tremonton resident
Kit Crozier asked. "How many times do we have to
say ‘no’?"
At the meeting held at the historic
county courthouse Tuesday night, Rich VanDyke, county
commission chairman, said the Northern Utah Regional
Landfill Authority (NURLA) has requested a statement
from Box Elder County regarding whether the county is
willing to lease the Little Mountain landfill. He said
they held this meeting to explain the county’s options
and gather input from residents.
While opinions concerning the landfill
lease option differed, more than half of the attendees
who commented agreed that what the Shoshone are planning
to do with the Promontory Point landfill would be the
best option for the county.
"I think we’re all going to
be indebted to the Shoshone when this is over,"
said Brigham City resident Ed Tugaw.
Michael Devine, chief operating officer
of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, took a
moment in the meeting to briefly explain what the Shoshone
are planning at Promontory. Devine said the plan is
to create a waste-to-energy plant at Promontory that
could have a 365 million ton capacity. He said it would
be enough to take all the waste from the Wasatch Front
for 100 years.
"If it’s a renewable plant,
it could last for eternity," Devine said.
An additional waste-to-energy facility
at Little Mountain would reduce the carbon footprint
of the site, which is important to the Shoshone as that
is sacred ground to them, VanDyke said. Promontory also
has access via rails so transporting waste there won’t
impact roads or traffic, he said.
Although the concern of citizens
mostly had to do with garbage from other counties being
sent to Box Elder County, the concern of city officials
was costs.
“My concern as mayor of Brigham
City is keeping costs down,” said Mayor Lou Ann Christensen.
"I would encourage the commission to continue researching
the possibility of an interlocal agreement with other
counties."
City Councilman Reese Jensen said,
"I think there’s a real potential to turn the ‘money
pit’ (landfill) of the county around. It would be foolish
not to turn waste into energy and revenue. Here’s an
opportunity to generate revenue."
VanDyke said he wanted to assure
citizens that the county was not supporting the lease
of the landfill to NURLA, and that the council was considering
all options in order to make the best decision for everyone
involved.
According to Box Elder County’s Web
site, NURLA is a not-for-profit interlocal entity formed
by Box Elder County, Logan city, Wasatch Integrated
Waste Management District (Davis and Morgan Counties),
and Weber County. It is controlled by an eight-member
governing board comprised of voting representatives
from each involved entity.
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