Opinion piece on Parley’s – Utah doesn’t need to mine more gravel. We need to look to more sustainable alternatives.
Malin Moench, UPHE member and retired legal and economic analyst at a federal level, had another compelling and detailed opinion piece published in the Salt Lake Tribune.
“Would-be gravel miners have been claiming that an impending gravel shortage threatens the Salt Lake area economy unless they are permitted to tear up the Wasatch wherever gravel deposits are found. Two recent studies conclude that this looming gravel shortage is a myth.
“This past spring, developers who are determined to open a vast limestone mine in Parley’s Canyon pressured Utah legislators to insulate the mining of so-called critical infrastructure materials (sand, gravel and crushed rock) from local government control. Alarmed local governments pushed back causing the Legislature to require only a study of the future supply of and demand for CIM, together with an assessment of how CIM mining should be regulated.
“Responsibility for the study and assessment was given to Stantec, an environmental consulting firm. Stantec won’t release the details of its study until the 2025 Legislature reconvenes, but it shared its initial findings with the Legislature on Nov. 20. Twelve days earlier, Stantec had released the results of its roughly parallel study that Salt Lake County had commissioned.
“Stantec’s interim findings are a welcome surprise. It finds that there should be no shortage of CIM that would restrict Utah’s economic development through 2060. There are, it says, a whopping 6.5 trillion tons of potential CIM reserves across the state, which could supply our needs for 13,000 years.”
In summary, there is NO NEED for the proposed gravel pit and limestone mine in Parley’s Canyon.
Malin Moench’s full piece here.
Malin’s 2024 op-ed on alternative sources of gravel.
Status of the proposal for Parley’s:
Utah’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is still reviewing the permit application for the mine.
UPHE submitted comments to the DAQ opposing the project.
The city of Millcreek opposed the permit, commissioning an expert analysis that concluded the permit was misguided. Salt Lake County passed an ordinance that would prohibit the mine.