WEST BOUNTIFUL — West Bountiful Mayor James Behunin has already said what he thinks of the proposed power plant that DAQ granted to Consolidated Energy Systems, LLC.
The city doesn’t want it where the refinery has initially planned it.
“Many residents have expressed concern about a co-generation plant that has been proposed for a site next to the Holly Oil Refinery,” said Behunin on the city’s website. “At the time when drawings were presented to us, we as a city had major concerns.”
Some of those concerns, he said, were the location of the plant, the effect the plant might have in the air, and the fact that the Department of Environmental Quality had already approved the plans to build the plant itself.
However, building the plant in the area where Holly wants it requires the city to change their land use in the area from a “residential” use to an “industrial” one, something Behunin said the city would most likely deny because of its proximity to homes in the surrounding area.
“We simply will not permit the construction of a facility that would threaten the health of our citizens,” said Behunin. “We have done so much to clean the air in Davis County, we don’t want to go backwards on it by allowing them to build that plant here.”
Residents of Woods Cross have also filed letters complaining of the proposed plant. Gary Uresk, the city’s administrator, has stated that he is being urged to write a letter to the state saying that the city is not in favor of the plant as well.
Behunin also stated that even though the city is against the building, no formal request was submitted to them for a building permit, meaning they cannot take any formal action to approve or deny the proposed project.
He did; however, reaffirm his position during Tuesday night’s city council meeting, stating that the refinery goes against its promise of working with the city to improve the air quality in the area should the plant somehow be allowed to be built.
The plant itself is a 109-megawatt power plant that relies on waste oil from the Holly Refinery for fuel. The refinery, though some believe is in Woods Cross, is actually located in West Bountiful.
“We have a ‘buffer’ zone between the residents and the city that was agreed upon by the refinery and us,” said Behunin. “They have been working on making it at least look better by planting trees and berms to the area.
“The truth is, when they initially presented us with plans about a year ago, we told them they had to build it within a very small amount of space. They couldn’t do that, and the area where they want to put it now is no longer a viable location.”
A community meeting is set for today at the Woods Cross city building, located at 1555 South 800 West, at 6:30 p.m.
A public hearing from DEQ has been set for Tuesday, Jan. 13 at the DEQ room 101. Their address is 168 North 1950 West, Salt Lake City.
Clipper staff writer Melinda Williams contributed to this report.
sgillet@davisclipper.com