FRONT PAGE A1 www.tooeletranscript.com TUESDAY THS drama teacher retiring with laughs See B1 TOOELETRANSCRIPT BULLETIN February 26, 2008 SERVING TOOELE COUNTY SINCE 1894 VOL. 114 NO. 81 50¢ Contamination halts work on new crisis center by Sarah Miley STAFF WRITER Contaminated soil caused by used oil has been found at the construction site of the new Tooele County Emergency Management center, halting construction and spurring remediation efforts by environmental health officials. From 1951 to 1996, the site was a gas station, and until last year when the land was pur- chased by the county, was the site of Mario’s Tires. According to Kari Sagers, director of Tooele County Emergency Management, the gas station had a used oil drain that went down into an underground tank. Apparently, she said, over the years the well had cracked and the used oil seeped into the soil. “When they closed down the gas station, they took out the underground tanks, checked those out, sampled the ground and got clean samples,” Sagers said. But as excavation and digging began, crews detected a heavy smell of oil and informed the health department that there was some ground that needed to be evaluated, accord- ing to Bucky Whitehouse, public informa- photography / Troy Boman tion officer for the Tooele County Health Storm clouds roll over a pasture full of grazing cows in Erda Monday. Air quality in the Tooele Valley has been better this winter than last winter, and remains drastically Department. better than along the Wasatch Front. “It’s not anything real serious, but it’s just something that has slowed things a little bit until we can decide what can be done,” Valley winter air quality remains good Sagers said. SEE HALTS PAGE A7 ➤ by Sarah Miley red days; Utah County has received seven been operating for two years and is still col- STAFF WRITER yellow and six red days; Weber County has lecting baseline data. received 16 yellow and six red days; and Despite the thick inversion that settled Air quality in the Tooele Valley has been Cache County has received 10 yellow days into the Wasatch Front last week, a winter- better this winter than last winter, and and five red days. long pattern of wet, fast-moving storms has remains drastically better than along the “It’s been a good year because of the made air quality better across the state this Wasatch Front, according to data from number of storms we’ve had,” Coombs said. winter than it was last winter. the Utah Department of Environmental “Whenever a storm comes through, it clears Last winter, Tooele would have qualified Quality. the air out.” for two yellow days and one red day. For The state DEQ hasn’t instituted the color- Bucky Whitehouse, public informa- Salt Lake and Davis counties, this winter’s coded air pollution warnings of green, yel- tion officer for the Tooele County Health air has been substantially more healthy low or red days for Tooele County, but based Department, said the county isn’t classi- than last winter, when the two counties on those standards, the county would have fied as a non-attainment zone — an area combined received nine yellow days and 28 qualified for one red day and no yellow that does not meet air quality standards set red days. photography / Troy Boman days so far this winter, according to Jeff by the Environmental Protection Agency On yellow and red days, people are encour- Idle earth movers sit on the future site of the Tooele Coombs, environmental health director for — and therefore color-coded restrictions aged to drive less, and if possible, avoid County Emergency Management Center on the cor- the Tooele County Health Department. put in place for counties along the Wasatch using wood- and coal-burning stoves. ner of Main Street and 200 South in Tooele Monday. In contrast, Salt Lake and Davis coun- Front are not enforced here. Also, the DEQ Contaminated soil has halted construction on the site, ties have received 20 yellow days and nine air monitoring station in Tooele has only SEE AIR PAGE A6 ➤ which was once a gas station, and spurred remediation efforts by environmental health officials. Community Plan to plumb Skull councils are Valley for oil advances becoming vital Drilling could begin in June or July for schools by Doug Radunich the project. They will also STAFF WRITER now become the main opera- With more money and tor of the project.” A Wyoming-based com- According to Merschat, this broader goals, councils are pany is moving ahead with will be the third drilling to playing a major role in a plan to explore Skull Valley take place in the Skull Valley for oil, and is scheduled to area. He said Ameriwest will shaping local education begin drilling a $1 million drill the well on BLM land test well by as early as June. located 8 miles south of I-80 by Tim Gillie Walt Merschat said he put and 7 miles west of SR-196 in STAFF WRITER the Skull Valley drilling plan Tooele County. together over several years Merschat, who has worked School community councils in the with his Casper-based com- as a consulting geologist for Tooele County School District will allocate photography / Troy Boman pany, Geochem Exploration, several drilling operations, over $603,000 in state government money Tooele High School teacher Mrs. Malony instructs students using PLATO software. The THS before selling the prospect said he expects drilling to this year — a 16 percent increase over last Community Council allocated money from the state School LAND Trust program to pay for an full-time to Ameriwest Energy, anoth- begin in June or July. year. Statewide, the program has grown aide to operate the PLATO lab, which allows students to work individually at their own pace. er Casper-based company. “I used to work in Gulf from $4.9 million distributed to schools in Merschat is currently presi- Oil research, and back in 2001 to $18.4 million in 2007. The School LAND (Learning and invested by the state treasurer and the dent of both companies. the 1970s we had detected Community councils have become qui- Nurturing Development) Trust program interest and dividends are divided among “When I sold the prospect this area of Skull Valley as etly essentially to schools, yet their role is was established by the Legislature in 1999. local school districts, largely according to Ameriwest, they offered a geochemical anomaly that not always understood by the public. The source of the money goes back to to enrollment figures. The district then me the opportunity to run the would be good for finding Each school in the district has a com- Utah’s statehood when the federal govern- divides this money among individual company and become presi- oil,” he said. “I have waited munity council composed of teachers ment gave the state 3.3 million acres of land schools, again by enrollment. dent and CEO of Ameriwest,” a long time to do this. I have — selected by school staff — and par- to be held in trust for public education. The average funding received for all Merschat said. “Ameriwest a permit and have already ents — elected by parents annually each The land is managed by the School and schools in the district this year was $46 had expressed interest in gone through the BLM, so spring. These councils determine how Institutional Trust Lands Administration. per student. High schools in the district helping me drill it, and they now I just have to focus on state School LAND Trust program money Income is generated through land leases, have offered to put up some is spent at the school. sales and development. The income is SEE SCHOOLS PAGE A6 ➤ of the money working toward SEE OIL PAGE A7 ➤ WEATHER OPEN FORUM A4 HOMETOWN B1 INSIDE Partly cloudy conditions through OBITUARIES A6 BULLETIN BOARD A8 George Bruce named 2007 West Thursday with highs in the lower TV LISTINGS B3 CLASSIFIEDS B4 Section Coach of the Year to mid-40s. See A10 Complete Forecast: A2 SPORTS A10 ANNOUNCEMENTS A9 A2 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN TUESDAY February 26, 2008 Valley Weather Forecast TFCU to change name for 60th anniversary Local Weather Company officials say new name will likely drop ‘Tooele’ to emphasize growth elsewhere Wed 45/31 by Doug Radunich 2/27 STAFF WRITER Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during After 37 years of doing busi- the. ness as Tooele Federal Credit Union, the county’s largest locally based financial institu- tion will be changing its name this spring. The change is Thu being made to reflect TFCU’s 45/33 recent growth outside of the 2/28 Tooele Valley, according to Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the company officials. mid 40s and lows in the low 30s. The new name has not yet been decided on, but according to TFCU Marketing Manager Brett Valdez, it likely will not include “Tooele” in Fri 49/37 the title. Valdez said the com- 2/29 pany would prefer to have a Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the name that does not sound upper 40s and lows in the upper solely focused on serving 30s. Tooele County. “We’re really growing, with now over 20 percent of our members being from Salt Lake County, so having our Sat name seem like it’s focused 48/29 on Tooele might limit our 3/1 potential as we’re growing out More clouds than sun. Highs in the there,” Valdez said.