This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Efforts to develop a new low-level radioactive waste site in Tooele County fell short once again Tuesday, as the Tooele County Commission voted against Charles Judd's request to scrap an ordinance allowing just one such site.
A former executive of the company that founded what is now the EnergySolutions Inc. landfill, Judd has plans to build a rival facility on 320 acres of School and Institutional Trust Lands. It would accept the same type of low-level radioactive waste that goes to the EnergySolutions site now — which buries more than 97 percent of the low-level radioactive waste disposed of each year in the United States — only Judd says he is proposing a different structure for taxes and fees.
"We think there are a lot more benefits to Utah under the scenario that we present for this site," said Judd, whose company, Cedar Mountain Environmental, has settled several lawsuits with EnergySolutions regarding the new site. Judd said schools, county government and state government would all see increased revenue under the per-cubic-foot fee he has in mind. The Tooele County Commission considered Judd's request during its afternoon meeting. Although they voted against the ordinance change, Judd said he felt encouraged they might be willing to reconsider if he is successful in securing other needed approvals, including a site review required by the state's Division of Radiation Control.