West Jordan residents and elected officials showed up for a Salt Lake County Council hearing on the plant Monday night. And the unified West Jordan voice was: Build it in Riverton.

Why are West Jordanites so interested?

West Jordan is home to its own sewage treatment plant near 7800 South on the west side of the Jordan River. The fear is - and it has been suggested - that plant can be expanded to take the 30 million gallons of wastewater that the Riverton facility would eventually handle.

“The people of West Jordan stepped forward and did their part,” said Rep. Steven Mascaro, R-West Jordan. “To ask that [West Jordan residents] carry an additional burden is not fair.”

Added Rob Bennett, a West Jordan City Council member, “It is in our backyard, and it's only fair for someone else to have their turn.”

The idea of more in West Jordan is unsettling to residents because in order to increase capacity, the plant would have to change the way it currently processes waste. And the new treatment method is known for releasing strong odors.

Nearby West Jordan residents say that the facility isn't a nuisance now.

It's an argument that troubles some Riverton residents. If the facility was so great, Linda Roberts argued, why are West Jordan residents so opposed to an expansion. “Obviously there is a problem with the existing sewer plant,” Roberts said.

Riverton residents have fought against the proposed sewage plant, arguing it's in the wrong place and the process has been streamlined in favor of the South Valley Sewer District.

“There's 90 percent politics involved in this and 10 percent engineering,” said Scott Cottis, a Draper resident opposed to the Riverton plant.

The district has bought 127 acres in the Jordan River bottomland around 13500 South north of the Bangerter Highway. The plant will cover an estimated 20 acres with the remaining land being used as a buffer and a road into the facility.

The district says it needs the plant to keep pace with growth in the southern end of Salt Lake County. The future of that proposal hinges on two things: an authorization from the County Council for the plant to dump into the river and a successful court appeal.

The Riverton Board of Adjustment recently revoked a permit that allowed for the project. The sewer district appealed that decision in 3rd District Court on Monday.

Riverton residents asked - among other things - for an additional study that would look beyond the proposed site.

“We should step back and take a big picture look,” said John Homer.

That idea was even under attack from the West Jordan residents.

“It sounds like a duck and cover,” said Cynthia Bee.