Saratoga Springs » When Jim Westwater heard that a proposed bridge across Utah Lake would not need federal environmental clearance, he was shocked and disappointed.

"This is not a private lake," said Westwater, chairman of the Utah Valley Sierra Forum. "This is a public lake, held in trust by the state of Utah."

But Westwater and the Sierra Forum are planning to do more than just join the chorus of dissenting voices already on file with the state.

The group is drafting a demand for the state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to conduct an environmental review as thorough as a federal environmental impact study.

But Leon Harward, president of Utah Crossing, said he already is complying with state law -- which does not require a federal-style environmental study.

"I have to do what the law requires of me," Harward said. "The [Sierra Forum] is in no position to demand more than what is required by state law."

Utah Crossing is proposing to build a 5.8 mile bridge across the lake, from near Pelican Point in Saratoga Springs to the former Geneva Steel site in Vineyard, and aligned with Orem's 800 North. The goal: Create an east-west corridor across the valley.

The bridge's $600 million price tag will be covered through a $3 toll collected for each trip across the bridge.

Dave Grierson, the division's sovereign lands director, said in public meetings that the bridge does not fall into any category requiring approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the U.S. Envioronmental Protection Agency.

Grierson said the piling technology used to anchor the bridge in the lake bed does not come under the federal Clean Water Act, while the lake bed itself is considered state property. Harward is planning to finance the bridge privately, and the alignment does not have a major effect on wetlands, further avoiding any need for federal intervention.

The state will consider environmental concerns, Grierson said in public meetings in Provo and Saratoga Springs, as well as whether Utah Crossing has the finances and a business model to support the project.

If all goes as planned, work will begin on the bridge in the spring of 2010.

Westwater said he learned of the lack of federal oversight when Sam Rushforth, Utah Valley University's dean of Earth sciences, brought it up at a recent Sierra Forum discussion on the bridge.

Rushforth said a federal study is needed to ensure that the bridge does not harm the lake or the endangered June sucker that can only be found in its waters. The bridge will also mean more development on the west side of Utah Lake, which Rushforth said could turn into urban sprawl that would harm the environment.

"As we increase the urbanization, we are going to have more direct discharges into the lake," said Rushforth. Plus, fine particulates generated by cars using the bridge would degrade Utah County's air quality and endanger federal highway funding.

Rushforth said the only possible reason to build the bridge would be to open the west shore to development.

As for traffic, Rushforth said the Pioneer Crossing project -- which would link Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain to Interstate 15 -- and commuter rail will do more to ease traffic and clean the air than the bridge.

Harward earlier said that the bridge will actually help reduce air pollution by minimizing the time people spend driving, as well as giving them a straight shot rather than having to wait in stop-and-go traffic, either on Lehi's Main Street or Pioneer Crossing, which is under construction.

dmeyers@sltrib.com