The Dumping Ground
Ferron couple battling the illegal dumping
that is making their property an eyesore
James L. Davis
Grant and Kathy Jenkins of Ferron are standing on the edge of a dumping ground. On either side of the road dissecting their property is a pile of garbage sliding down the slopes of a gully. Some of the garbage shows signs that it has been there for years, decades, but other garbage is far fresher, having been illegally dumped there only weeks or even days before.
The Jenkins shake their heads at the sight of it. Sometimes those who dump their garbage on their property don’t even throw it over the side of the gully; they simply dump it in the middle of the road. It’s been a problem the two have tried to find a way to deal with since they bought the 80 acres of land between Ferron and Emery two years ago.
The area had long been used by residents of the town of Emery as a dump before the town dumps were closed and the county landfill was established. But there are those who still use the land as a dumping ground, and the Jenkins never know what they will find when they come out to their property. The gully is littered with old refrigerators, batteries, mattresses, televisions, household waste of all kinds. And amongst the litter are the carcasses of dead animals. In the past few weeks, seven dead calves were thrown off the side of the road, and as they get out of their vehicle the Jenkins are relieved to see that one of the farmers that uses the road to access their own property has mercifully used a tractor to bury some of the stinking carcasses.
Finding a solution to the illegal dumping has become a central theme in the Jenkins lives of late and for Grant the easiest solution is to simply put up a fence and gates at the roadway. Unfortunately, he can’t. The road used to be SR-10 leading to Emery before the new road was built to the east. The county claims it still maintains a right-of-way on the road and won’t allow it to be closed.
Frustrated by the lack of options on dealing with the illegal dumping, the Jenkins went before the Emery County Commission to ask for help in cleaning up the area and keeping it clean.
“It’s way over our heads,” Grant explained to the commission. “I need you guys to talk it over and decide what we can do.”
The problem on the property has been a recurring one the commission said; indicating that the county had gone out some years before and attempted to clean up some of the area, but the problem persists.
“It’s a definite problem,” admitted Commissioner Gary Kofford. “It’s trying to figure out a way to address it. There’s a lot of garbage in there that’s been there for years. It’s a major project to clean it up, but I agree that it does need to be cleaned up.”
During the meeting the commission said it would look into putting no dumping signs up along the road and Captain Kyle Ekker of the Emery County Sheriff’s Office said deputies would be told to keep an eye on the area and look to make an arrest for illegal dumping.
“If we can catch a few of them and make them start cleaning the stuff up I think it will stop,” Ekker said.
The commission said it would look into the possibility of grants to help in the cost involved in cleaning up the area. The Environmental Protection Agency Illegal Dumping Prevention Guidebook details a number of grants that are available to assist in cleaning up sites and details a comprehensive plan on how to stop illegal dumping.
The Jenkins said they have tried cleaning up some of the garbage themselves, but can’t seem to keep ahead of the illegal dumpers and the efforts they’ve made to stop the dumping has had no effect.
“We’ve put up no dumping signs, we’ve put up flags and it doesn’t change a thing. I bought $200 worth of no dumping signs and they’re all gone. I thought they had blown away, but there’s no sign of them anywhere. People just rip them down,” Kathy said.
For Grant, the dumping is a frustration not only because it his property that is being used as a dump, but because the road being used to access his property is also a designated OHV trail, which means visitors from outside the county are driving by the ugly sight of illegal dumping in the county.
“We try to get people to come here, but that’s not a very good sight to see,” he said. “I just would hope that people wouldn’t desecrate my property. I don’t dump trash in their yard.”
Until they can get help in cleaning up the mess they will hope that the county and law enforcement can stop the illegal dumping from continuing. If you have information on illegal dumping anywhere in the county you are encouraged to call the Emery County Sheriff’s Office at 381-2404.
The Jenkins used to bring their children out to the property to explore and get away when they were younger and today, with their children raised and on their own, they bought the property so that they could come out for family gatherings. They have even considered the possibility of building a cabin on the property, but not while it is being used as a dumping ground.
“We call it Inheritance Ranch,” Kathy said. “We tell our kids that and they say ‘oh great, we get the dump.’”
Criminal inquiry sought on Crandall mine tragedy
Josie Luke
The Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy was once again brought into the national spotlight as the fourth in a continuing line of reports on the disaster was released by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee on May 8.
After nine months of investigation, the chairman referred the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal investigation. Miller reported, “I didn’t take lightly the decision to make the referral to the Justice Department; I did it in full recognition of the fact that this tragedy cost nine men their lives.”
In a press conference, Miller explained the committee’s conclusions. “Based on our experts’ analysis, I am able to conclude that it is likely that the tragedy was the result of a flawed plan for conducting retreat mining in the area of the mine where the deaths occurred.
“Therefore, also based on this analysis, I am able to conclude that the plan should never have been submitted by the mine operator, and should never have been approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration,” he stated.
The committee expressed concern that the mine operator may have “willfully misled” MSHA about the “bump” which occurred earlier in the year, and that this “could have affected” MSHA’s decisions to approve operations.
He clarified, “The fact that UtahAmerican Energy may have misled MSHA in no way absolves the agency of its decision to approve the deadly retreat mining plan amendments. MSHA officials must not sit on their hands and wait for mine operators to bring information to them.”
He said that their findings demonstrated that the incident may have been avoided, that the mine operator “did not act in the interests of the safety of its employees,” and that MSHA “failed these miners and their families.”
Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon said that while she understood that in such situations there are people who may need to be blamed, that she “would hate to have to judge who is at fault,” and conveyed her continued hope that the community would continue to see positive things come out of the tragedy, such as better training for miners, the new office of mine safety, and the monuments which are now being constructed.
The Justice Department is taking the referral seriously. The Salt Lake Tribune reported, the U.S. Attorney for Utah, Brett Tolman, will take the request “very seriously” and will review the materials submitted by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman.
They also reported that a spokesman for Tolman said, “As with other referrals that come to our office, we will carefully screen the material provided to us, work with agents to conduct further investigation as needed, and consider whether criminal charges are appropriate based on evidence in the case.”
Attorneys for Genwal Resources released a statement reacting to Miller’s report, saying, “As with many of his prior statements, there is no credible basis for Mr. Miller’s reckless allegations. They are merely political grandstanding as he continues to play to his constituents.
“We are confident that any impartial investigator will reject Mr. Miller’s allegations. Laine Adair [the mine operator] is an honest and plain-speaking man whose integrity and professionalism are well-established in the Utah mining community where he has worked for over thirty years. Genwal Resources stands behind Mr. Adair, and we believe Mr. Miller’s efforts to impugn Mr. Adair and other individuals through today’s announcement is deplorable.”
Gregory L. Poe, counsel for Adair, also reacted to the report. “The House Education and Labor Committee’s referral of Laine Adair to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation is deeply disappointing and utterly unjustified. Mr. Adair has earned an impeccable reputation through decades of service in the Utah mining industry.
“The facts will show that Mr. Adair’s conduct was entirely proper. We are confident that the Justice Department will agree that prosecution is wholly unwarranted.” he said.
Congressman Jim Matheson released a statement expressing his opinion on the report soon after. “The committee staff has spent nine months reviewing evidence about what occurred leading up to the tragedy that killed six coal miners and three mine rescuers at Crandall Canyon last year. The families, whose loved ones lie entombed in the mountain, deserve answers.
“Miners who go underground every day deserve to work under the safest possible conditions. We should all want to get to the bottom of what happened, so that we can learn what can be done to prevent future tragedies. I think it’s appropriate for the U.S. attorney to review this case, and if the evidence warrants, take action to hold people accountable,” he said.
Commission signs agreement on memorial
The Emery County Commission signed a memorandum of agreement between the county and Andalex Resources regarding the creation of the Crandall Canyon Miners’ Memorial during the May 6 commission meeting.
While the monument itself will sit on Forest Service property, the agreement between the mine and the county will result in Andalex deeding over to the county the trail head, parking lot area and roadway.
The commissioners praised the spirit of cooperation evident in the development of the memorial, which is expected to be complete prior to the one year anniversary date of the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster on Aug. 6.
A key to the development of the site was a special use permit put into place by the Forest Service. Normally obtaining a special use permit is a time consuming process and the commission thanked Mesia Nyman, Ferron District Ranger, for the efforts of the Forest Service to put the special use permit together so quickly.
Emery Telcom unveils new services under development
Josie Luke
At the Emery Telcom 2008 Annual Meeting, both board members up for reelection, Kendall Mortensen, the president of the board of directors and Huntington representative, and Kathy Justice, at-large board member, were re-elected by popular vote to their respective positions.
During the meeting the company discussed their services, including telephone, long distance, high-speed internet, cable television and call center. They revealed that their 95 employees now provide 14,377 access lines, have 5,837 internet customers and 8,155 long distance customers, and provide bundled services to 572 customers.
Emery Telcom also announced the development of a local internet protocol television network called ETV, which Jared Anderson, who is over business development and marketing, said is “essentially digital television transmitted over an IP network.”
An IPTV network offers features similar to satellite or digital cable television. Like satellite television, IPTV will require a set-top box, but the digital signal will come through home DSL connections over an IP network. This will provide a larger bandwidth which will allow more interactive applications.
Those who are familiar with internet video clips have seen this technology in a general way, but because of the larger bandwidth involved in IPTV, the stream will be clearer and won’t require the time it sometimes takes to load such a clip.
The satellite feed will be transmitted into Emery Telcom’s central office in Price and then sent through DSL lines to homes and businesses throughout the community. The service will provide more than 200 standard channels and 44 HD channels at first, with 85 HD channels expected by the end of the year.
Anderson also revealed that the service will provide a feature called “the portal” which will “essentially enable internet access from the television.” It will also allow integration into other internet sites, so users are able to use instant messaging, email, websites and webcams which Emery Telcom will install on their towers.
In addition, because it is a telephone network “riding on” a data network, they will be able to integrate much of the telephone functionality onto the television, allowing for caller ID to “pop onto the television screen.” The company is also purchasing a new voice mail system which will integrate with the “portal” feature, so customers can check their voice mail on their television.
In order to provide the content, Emery Telcom partnered with Eco Star, so that they will also be able to offer much of the same content as other television services. “We have access to all the content that Dish Network can provide you with today. In addition, we have more access to high definition, and so really the channel lineup can be really extensive,” Anderson said.
They will provide a basic program package, in addition to extended basic and premium lineups. Anderson also reported that the service will provide “video on demand” features, digital video recorder and the Mountain West sports network.
He also related that because the company is invested in the community, they are partnering with the local high schools to provide them with equipment to film “all sorts of different local content” to be broadcast over a local television channel. They will also be getting local weather conditions from airports to provide local weather forecasts.
Anderson said that television service will be available in bundles, similar to bundles currently offered with long distance and internet service and cost will be comparable to Dish Network. He said, “The service will be similar in pricing, with a lot more functionality built in.” Emery Telcom is anticipating that service will be available to the public by the end of the third quarter, or late September.
Pressurized irrigation starts to go on line
James L. Davis
After a long and sometimes slow process to revolutionize irrigation in the Huntington and Cleveland area, the future arrived last week as the first line was pressurized and the first water hit the ground through a web of pressurized lines being constructed by the Huntington/Cleveland Irrigation Company.
The lines were pressurized with water from Huntington North Reservoir, as the other regulating water ponds are slowly being filled with water and checked for leaks. The water line, part of a web of lines that will replace more than 300 miles of open irrigation canals and ditches, was slowly pressurized and in the process only one leak was discovered, according to Ted Curtis, vice president of the irrigation company.
The leak was caused by a bullet hole in the line and the fact that it was the only hole found spoke of the remarkable job being done in the lines creation, with thousands of welds and miles of pipe being placed.
The more than $60 million project has required almost a Herculean effort to develop and just the process to keep it moving has proved frustrating for many HCIC stockholders. The fact that the water is now flowing through an area of the pressurized system goes a long way toward calming nervousness about the system.
“Its been a long time coming, but it’s coming together,” Curtis said. We’re going to have a lot of people that will be sprinkling this summer. Now that we’re over some of the paperwork obstacles, things are running right along.”
As the first lines came to life Curtis said that there was a learning curve to be dealt with as users learned technology that was new to them.
“I’ve never done this before. It’s like somebody handing you the keys something you’ve never driven before. You have to figure it out,” Curtis said, explaining his first experience turning the water on to his property as an audience of those invested in the project looked on. “It was almost embarrassing because I wasn’t sure what I was doing.”
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