(Source: Salt Lake Tribune, August 24, 2020)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Utah officials violated federal law last year when they awarded nearly $28 million in grants to plan and develop a railway that oil-producing counties have proposed to connect with the national rail network in hopes of enhancing the marketability of the Uinta Basin’s waxy crude. That’s according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by environmental groups demanding the money be returned to the Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund, which takes in federal mineral royalties to fund projects in rural communities that alleviate the impacts associated with mineral extraction.
Full story: Salt Lake Tribune