Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has little oversight because the proposal is on sovereign land, backers of the project say it's a very laborious regulatory process.

"The federal regulations are extremely strict," said Handy. He and LaVarr Webb are consultants for the CR Group, whose principals include Ace Disposal and Metro Waste.

Project backers hope to have the facility constructed by summer.

Plans call for hauling the waste in compressed baled bunches weighing up to 4,000 pounds each — about 5,000 tons of waste a day — by the truckload to Skull Valley, after the garbage has been sorted out to remove all recyclables at the Metro and Ace transfer stations in the Salt Lake Valley. The landfill, which would have a life expectancy of 50 years, will have a liner to protect against leaching. As each cell of the balefill is filled it will be capped, covered with topsoil and revegetated under the EPA and BIA standards.

"This is just regular waste residue," said Handy. "There is nothing toxic."

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