Wendover has decided to withdraw from a suit to prevent USPCI from building a hazardous-waste incinerator in Tooele County. And USPCI has agreed to pay the city $60,000 a year in impact-mitigation funds.
The company denied it was paying the city to drop out of the suit, which now has the Sierra Club as the only entity still challenging the proposed incinerator at the company's hazardous-waste landfill 50 miles east of Wen-dover."As the county explained it to us, they felt they needed the extra $60,000 to meet certain goals and provide Wen-dover with what they felt was necessary," said Gary McCuiston, director of community affairs for USPCI, a Houston-based subsidiary of Union Pacific.
"We feel the county knows what is appropriate and we are just following their lead," he said.
USPCI agreed on July 18 to pay Tooele County the $60,000 a year in additional impact funds. The money was earmarked for Wendover.
On Aug. 5, the City Council approved an agreement with the county stating the city would receive the $60,000 a year and would withdraw from the suit.
McCuiston said the company is pleased the city has agreed to withdraw from the suit, but he said the firm had nothing to do with the city's decision.
County Commissioner Leland Hogan said the city's decision to join the suit was a "ploy" to get more impact funds.
He said the fact the city was willing to drop its environmental objections in return for the money was proof that the city's environmental concerns were "unsubstantiated."
Cindy King of the Sierra Club said it will continue to pursue the challenge of USPCI's environmental study. Work on the incinerator, which would process 130,000 tons of hazardous waste per year, has been halted while the case is reviewed by the Interior Department Board of Land Appeals.