Passion is critical to change and should always be respected. However, when excessive passion leads to providing misinformation to further a cause, that person has crossed a line that is a disservice to all involved. If we want to create “real” change, the best way is through real dialogue based on facts.
Transparency is one of the key foundational elements we are building a company around at Allos Environmental and the Promontory Point Resources site in particular. Rather than misinformation that was published in the Jan. 28 commentary in The Tribune, let’s deal with the facts.
• The facility at Promontory Point is not permitted to receive regulated hazardous waste. Never was and never will be. It is not a hazardous waste landfill.
• The facility at Promontory Point is at present permitted to receive municipal solid waste (household garbage), industrial waste and special waste under a Class I operating permit. The types of waste the facility can receive will not change under a Class V permit. Class I and Class V facilities are constructed to the same standards.
• Wastes the state of California classifies as CalHaz are not considered hazardous in any other state, including Utah. If the material meeting the contamination levels to be considered CalHaz was generated by an industrial facility or from a remediation project within the state of Utah, the material would be classified as nonhazardous and would be characterized as either industrial or special waste.
• This is not “the bad stuff.” In fact, the likelihood that Promontory Point receives infectious or hazardous waste from the industrial/special waste stream is far less than from household garbage. A quick look under anyone’s sink would make us all ask: What do we do with our bleach? Paint cans? Bandages from a cut at home? Industrial waste is tested, profiled and subjected to a rigorous review process before it is ever approved to be shipped to Promontory Point.
• There is not over 2,000 years of viable available Class V capacity in Utah. Viable capacity is a function of constructed capacity and the economics associated with transporting materials to that capacity. There may be industrial capacity in the St. George area, but it is neither economically viable, environmentally conscious nor safe to utilize for industries in the Wasatch Valley, where the largest industrial facilities reside and where the most significant economic growth is occurring. Transportation costs would be excessive and unrealistic.
If you are really interested in protecting the environment, do you really want to put more diesel-powered heavy trucks on I-15 every day? Do you really believe it’s an environmentally sound proposition to add to the inversion problem? Not to mention the potential for fatal accidents with more heavy equipment in an already congested traffic area.
We could go on and on with the misinformation tactics that are being used to create confusion and fear, but it is not constructive nor productive. Promontory Point Resources remains open and interested in quality dialogue to discuss facts and address the concerns of “all” of the constituencies that may have an interest in our business. However, we are not interested in a continuing cycle of addressing facts when misinformation and misrepresentation are the basis for public inflammation.
We welcome the opportunity to: share our vision for this facility, discuss the role the facility can play in the economic development of Utah, review the standards we will maintain around the operation and investigate ways we can address public concerns. We invite you to contact Promontory Point Resources to take a tour of the facilities and meet the people who are developing and will run the facility.
To arrange a tour or to find more facts about the facility, go to https://allosenv.com/locations/promontory-point/faqs.
Rick Martin, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Allos Environmental Inc.
Rick Martin is vice president of sales and marketing, Allos Environmental Inc., Salt Lake City.