Trump administration fast-tracks eastern Utah fossil fuels project
Despite last year’s record production year for oil out of the Uinta Basin, the Trump administration is fast-tracking an oil transloading facility in Carbon County.
What does the project look like? “With the expansion, the facility will load 100,000 barrels of oil onto trains heading for the Gulf Coast each day, according to the BLM’s environmental analysis. The oil trains consist of 104 rail cars, the largest train length possible on the Union Pacific route.
This increase will also require roughly 345 oil tanker truck deliveries through Indian Canyon daily, according to BLM’s review,” The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
The Uinta Basin is in non attainment for ozone, for which the DEQ cites oil and gas production. Residents have noticeably high rates of health issues, including still births. Industry officials have rejected and dismissed the concerns of residents about the impacts of their operations.
Utah, facing severe wildfires, drought and rising temperatures, should stop investing taxpayer dollars to projects that contribute to the climate crisis. Yet instead of investing in our future, they rush the process of destroying it. This project failed the BLM’s environmental review process in 2023, but because of Trump’s “energy emergency” declaration, it skipped through the process with minimal public input.
The recent approval of the Wildcat Transloading Facility is yet another alarming example of how federal environmental protections are being gutted to fast-track more fossil fuel projects in Utah. Just like the Uinta Basin Railway — a project greenlit after the U.S. The Supreme Court effectively dismantled the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — this process avoided the rigorous, science-based environmental review and public input that NEPA was designed to guarantee. NEPA has protected communities for over 50 years by ensuring health, safety, and climate impacts are considered before projects like this move forward. Without it, Utahns are left in the dark while powerful interests push projects that threaten our air, water, and future.
Our board president and cofounder, Dr. Brian Moench’s recent op-ed on why we challenged the Uinta Basin Railway in court.
