Waste-treatment law killed

Whether or not Tooele County continued to require an annual audit doesn't have much impact on the company, Walker said, since the county can audit the company at any time.

"We get audited a lot, and we supported the vote either way," Walker said. "We love operating in Tooele County and support the decisions that they make, and in this case, we fully support the vote that was made today."

The county's last independent audit of EnergySolutions was completed last year. The $25,000 audit examined EnergySolutions' records from 2001 to 2006 and found only that the company had overpaid $13 to the county. The county auditor's office has audited EnergySolutions two times in the past eight years, but the other companies that are contracted to pay the mitigation fees have not been audited by the county in the past eight years, said Mike Jensen, county auditor.

The county usually receives between $5 million and $6 million a year in the fees, but less than $1 million comes from the handful of other companies that pay the fees, Jensen said.

"You have to look at the benefit weighed against the cost of an independent audit," Jensen said. "If we're going to pay $25,000 per audit per company and see no result and do that every year and dish out $100,000 a year that results in minimal recapture, is the cost worth the benefit? If we do (audits) on a more sporadic basis and go out and take a look and make sure things are OK, to me, that seems more reasonable and more accountable for taxpayers' money."

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