Power company will now appeal decision to Utah Utility Facility Review Board

The Tooele County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to affirm the county planning commission’s denial of Rocky Mountain Power’s conditional use permit for a high-voltage transmission line.

The permit was being sought for the segment of the Mona-to-Oquirrh Transmission Corridor Project that would run through Tooele County. The planning commission denied the permit March 3 because it found RMP had failed to meet its burden of proof in showing mitigation in various areas ranging from health concerns to visual blight.

Commissioner Jerry Hurst read a statement from commissioners explaining their decision.

“We believe that the Tooele County Planning Commission did not err in denying the request,” Hurst said. “We think that the planning commission did an excellent job and spent a lot of hours, and they studied and thought out their decisions. Each of the members during the last public hearing had very important things to say and they did a thorough job explaining why they denied the conditional use permit. All these things are on record.”

Attorneys for RMP issued a statement explaining why they felt the planning commission had erred in its decision.

“Contrary to the planning commission’s conclusion, the record provides substantial evidence of the nature, scope and adequacy of the mitigation measures proposed by the company to reduce each of the potential impacts of the project that were identified by the planning staff and the planning commission,” the statement read. “The planning commission ignored this evidence, and instead relied on unsubstantiated concerns, conjecture, speculation and public clamor as the basis of its decision. The county commission should reverse the planning commission’s decision because that decision was based on insufficient and impermissible grounds, and should approve the company’s CUP application.”

Last year, commissioners publicly declared their opposition to the southeast bench route proposed by RMP. Hurst said the commission worked with concerned citizens to develop an alternative route that was disregarded by the company.

“They [the citizen groups] as well as the county — the county staff, the county commission — brainstormed and tried to come up with routes that would least impact the municipalities and our individual citizens in our county,” Hurst said. “No matter where the line goes we realize that there’s going to be an impact to someone. So what we proposed is a route that would impact the least. Countless hours were spent by these dedicated people to come up with a suitable route.”

Commissioners were shocked when RMP applied for the conditional use permit on the southeast bench route with only minor alterations, Hurst said. He cited various concerns the public and government officials have had: the health risks of electric and magnetic fields, watershed impacts, aesthetic impacts, fire dangers, effect on property values, proximity to Settlement Canyon Reservoir and how the power towers would affect fire suppression by helicopters using the reservoir, access road impacts, natural hazards, livestock grazing impacts, wildlife habitat destruction, and effect on the International Smelter’s Superfund site. Hurst added commissioners were concerned that the environmental impact statement for the project is not complete, and a record of decision from the Bureau of Land Management has not been issued.

“Throughout the meetings, everyone came to the conclusion that, yes, we need more power in Tooele County,” he said. “We’ve had some businesses that probably did not come to the county because of lack of power. We do need the lines, we’re just opposed to this particular route. Our responsibility is to look out for the health, safety and welfare of our citizenry, and we believe that Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed route will impede those important factors.”

Brad Pratt, chairman of the Tooele Concerned Citizens Group that opposes the southeast route, said, “We are very happy and very pleased with the result and the response from our county commissioners and from our Tooele mayor and Tooele City Council and Grantsville’s mayor and city council for their consensus with regard to the Rocky Mountain Power project. They have listened to the citizens of Tooele and stood up for us.”

But, he added, the fight isn’t over.

“We still have a huge war ahead of us so we’re far from done and it’s far from over,” he said. “They still have not yielded at all to our desires or our input, and for the future of our valley, for the future of Tooele County, we need to stay involved and we need to make sure this is adjusted so it will be beneficial to us.”

Margaret Oler, spokeswoman for Rocky Mountain Power, said the company will now look to the five-member Utah Utility Facility Review Board for resolution of the matter.

The board is made up of three members of the state Public Service Commission, an individual representing the Utah League of Cities and Towns, and a member nominated by the Utah Association of Counties. Former state Sen. Ron Allen, who is also a Stansbury Park resident, sits on that board as a public service commissioner, along with public service commissioners Ted Boyer and Ric Campbell. Joe Johnson, the Bountiful City mayor, represents the Utah League of Cities and Towns, and Monette Hurtado, an attorney with Weber County, is the board representative from the Utah Association of Counties.

Julie Orchard, spokeswoman for the Public Service Commission, said the board would be required to meet within 40 days after the complaint is filed.

“The board can consider the options that are available for where the transmission line should be located,” she said. “But they can also do some research to find out what the additional cost would be to move it to an alternative location from where the company wants. If an alternative location is decided, then the board has the right to determine who will pay the cost of moving it to an alternative location.”

That means RMP, Tooele County or other entities could foot the bill for a route change, or might be forced to split the cost.

This will be the first time such a decision is possible, according to Orchard. In the 2009 Legislative session, the board was given additional power.

“Before they were not able to determine the siting of where the power lines could be located,” she said. “They had no authority over the location of the lines. All they could do was assess the costs once the decision had been made on where they were going to run it. But now the Legislature changed the parameters of what the board has power to do, and so they included siting as part of their responsibility.”

Orchard said there will be an opportunity for the public to speak out on what they believe would be the best route. Once the hearing date is set, which Orchard said will likely be sometime from May 3-5, public notices will be sent out.

The transmission line, which would originate in Mona in Juab County, would enter Tooele County at Twelve Mile Pass, go through Rush Valley northwest to the Tooele Army Depot, east along South Mountain to SR-36, northeast to Tooele City limits, then east, south of Tooele City limits, across Middle Canyon into the Oquirrh Mountains and to the Tooele County/Salt Lake County line and on to the Oquirrh Substation.

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com