SLC and the Port’s new deal
A draft plan is being reviewed by both Salt Lake City, and the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) that outlines the city’s input on the project, and especially their role, or lack thereof, in crucial studies that will demonstrate the Port’s impact.
Thanks to public outrage and pressure, the Inland Port has finally agreed to a human health study, a community study and traffic study. These are all things that should have been done at the conception of the project.
The draft plan as it stands does not give the City enough control or input for how drastically residents’ lives will be affected by the Port. The consultants for these studies are still chosen by UIPA. No one on UIPA’s board, and none of their consultants, has any public health or environmental expertise.
It is the City’s duty to ensure a plan is set in place that gives them enough control to protect local residents. Residents have already been left unrepresented by the creation of the Utah Inland Port Authority Board. The board is made up of appointed, not elected, officials. The only local representation on the board does not have voting power to make a real impact. UIPA has consistently demonstrated a lack of care for the best interest of Salt Lake residents, making minimal efforts to reduce their environmental impact, and being poor stewards of taxpayer money with questionable contracts and unaccounted for spending. Before Salt Lake City signs the contract they should make sure it includes them as the decision maker on picking the third party consultants that do these studies and that they oversee the studies and not the Inland Port Board.
