By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
In addition to attending a recent public information
meeting about three proposed pipelines and a terminal
station for the Nephi/Mona area, local citizens have been
attending city council meetings to gain political support
for their viewpoint.
Tanya Esplin, Alice Ricks, and Dana Young all met with
city council members to request that each of the members,
and the city council as a group, write to protest the
construction of a terminal station northeast of Nephi.
"The county will be the first to address, through
their permitting process, the terminal facility," said
Ricks. "The county planning commission would be the first to
address the issue."
However, said Ricks, the more response received, from
local residents and politicians, the better.
"I signed a petition against having a regional prison
located near Nephi," said Mike Jones, council member. "The
prison was built in Gunnison and, from all I can tell, they
are satisfied with it. None of the issues we feared have
come to pass."
"I have wondered, since then, if I made the right
decision," said Jones. It seemed to him that the common
local reaction was to "freak out" and respond without taking
time to consider the pros and cons sufficiently.
Ricks said the Williams Company had an option to
purchase the Bill Jasperson property which was located near
the Burraston Ponds road. That area was a recreation fishing
and camping area for Juab and Utah County residents.
"The terminal would provide six new jobs, but the wear
and tear on the roads caused by the increase in traffic
would not be worth it," said Young. "What would happen in
case of a fire or accident? We are not equipped for that
kind of situation."
Ricks and Esplin agreed with Young.
"I think the trucks using our roads would increase the
hazard," said Ricks. "Kids get off school buses along the
same road system that the trucks would be traveling."
"The terminal station is proposed to be located
adjacent to State Route 41 (old U.S. 91) three miles north
of the North Nephi exit," said Esplin. "This facility will
provide 265,000 barrels of refined petroleum products
storage, a truck loading rack, warehouses, vapor combustion
systems, electrical substations, an office and warehouse
buildings."
She said it was estimated that the facility would
cover approximately 80 acres. Those 80 acres were the
equivalent of eight city blocks.
"Nearly 100 semi trailer trucks will be loaded and
filled at this facility every day," said Esplin.
"There are somewhere between 200 and 300 semi-trucks a
day that drive through Levan," said Kent Park, council
member. Levan residents could probably offer a good insight
on what impact that truck travel had on the community.
Another concern, said Ricks, was that the facility is
being located in the critical water drainage system for East
Juab County, for Utah County and even for Salt Lake
County.
Nephi receives its water from Bradley Springs located
east of the community. Some water delivery lines are located
in Salt Creek Canyon where the natural gas pipelines are to
be located.
"Utah has two resources it cherishes," said Esplin,
"our water and our children." She said, to her way of
thinking, both were being threatened by the Williams
terminal station proposal
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