Disputed Rail Project Seeking to Ship Eastern Utah Oil to More Lucrative Markets Clears Hurdle with $21 Million Funding Boost

Rail proposal, which would connect the Uinta Basin’s waxy crude with Gulf Coast refiners. Thursday by securing a $21.4 million grant from a Utah panel. Know more about the disputed rail project deal as you continue reading below.

Firstly, the $1.4 billion rail line could increase industrial impacts by enabling Uinta Basin oil production to nearly quadruple to 300,000 barrels a day. Rail route would help counties develop their energy-dependent economies and take pressure off highways used by tanker trucks.

Project opponents — wearing badges that read “We’re being RAILROADED!” — stood for most of the three-hour meeting.

“The CIB is failing the public trust in the administration of this money,” complained Sarah Stock, program director with Moab-based Living Rivers who opposes energy development in Utah’s sensitive landscapes. “This money should go back to communities to alleviate the impacts of oil and gas. This is our only avenue to access the benefits of oil and gas extraction on this land.”

Firstly, the CIB’s move elated Mike McKee, a former Uintah County commissioner. Secondly, he is the ex-CIB member who now heads the seven-county group.

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Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

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