Dr. Courtney Henley on the Inland Port
“Local government is the last line of defense for the health and well-being of her residents,” Dr. Courtney Henley, board member of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment said at a recent City Council meeting. “If Salt Lake City can’t muster the will to care for the health of her people, nobody else will.”
A handful of residents used the meeting to address concerns over the Utah Inland Port. An agreement in 2022 between the Port and the city required a traffic study, a human health impact assessment and a community impact study for the ports’ SLC location. The deadline for those studies passed in 2023, with none completed, or seemingly even started.
Dr. Henley recently spoke at a rally at the Utah State Capitol, calling for a full audit of UIPA based on their failure to complete these studies. “
In fiscal year 2023, UIPA received $15.6 million in property tax differential from its lands in Salt Lake County. The Interlocal Cooperation Agreement specifies that 40% of the city generated differential is to be spent on a comprehensive human health impact study… Nothing has been done to even begin the assessment.” Dr. Henley goes on to point out that while the study is being pushed off, more port projects have been announced and started, with the same lack of foresight and regard for residents as the Salt Lake location.