The future of a new power plant in West Bountiful appears to be dimming in a cloud of controversy.

The state Division of Air Quality intends to grant Consolidated Energy Systems LLC a pollution permit for a 109-megawatt power plant at 400 S. 1100 West that would rely on waste oil from the adjacent Holly Refinery for fuel.

But state permitting is completely separate from local approval, and at least two local leaders said Tuesday the plant has no place in their borders.

Consolidated did not return calls seeking comment.

But West Bountiful Mayor James Behunin said the project, if it is ever formally proposed in his city, would require a building permit and rezoning from "residential" use to "industrial." And both seem unlikely, he said.

"We have done so much to clear up the air in Davis County," he said. "To do this would go back on what we have done."

That sentiment was echoed by Davis County Health Department Director Lewis Garrett.

"Just on general principles," he said, "adding another pollution source in an area where we already have so many problems seems a little questionable to us."

Engineers and permit specialists at the state air-quality office have been scrutinizing the power-plant plans for more than a year. And, while the plant will be using a fuel source considered especially dirty, Consolidated has pledged to use a robust pollution-scrubbing system that will keep emissions within state standards.

State law does not require air-quality regulators to keep local officials in the loop, said Ty Howard, who oversees permitting for the Division of Air Quality. But notices are routinely sent to local health officials, he noted.

"We simply look at the applications as they come in and make sure it meets the requirements of the [state] standard," he added. "We don't get involved in [the local zoning] side of it."

Behunin was expected to speak about the Consolidated plant at a meeting Tuesday night. So were officials in the neighboring community of Woods Cross.

The plant is also the subject of a community meeting hosted by the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment on Thursday and a public hearing by the Division Air Quality next Tuesday.

The doctors' group said this week that it estimates the pollution from the plant will be responsible for up to 20 premature deaths a year.

If the plant were to go forward it would need a building permit from West Bountiful city, as well as the rezoning. But Behunin noted that the Holly refinery and local residents had prized the undeveloped land slated for the power plant as a buffer between the surrounding community and the refinery.

The mayor also said the power plant, intended to produce energy for the refinery and not for sale to consumers, had not yet been formally presented to the city.

fahys@sltrib.com