Riverton residents battle sewage plant

RIVERTON — Residents are turning out en masse here to voice their disapproval about a proposal to build a sewage treatment plant in an undeveloped section of the Jordan River bottoms.

Thursday night, more than 150 people showed up at a public hearing at South Hills Middle School, and of those who signed in, the vast majority indicated they were against the plant.

The South Valley Sewer District plans to build a sewage treatment facility between 13100 South and 13500 South on the west banks of the Jordan River. The district says the plant is necessary, will be safe and will save sewage district ratepayers $1 million a year for the next 30 years.

But residents worry about health and safety issues, aesthetics, reduced property values and a host of other issues they say would be impacted by the plant.

"We've been asked to sacrifice our neighborhood and our city," Larry Bianucci said Thursday, calling the plant a project that would "destroy our last open space in Riverton."

The district serves seven communities containing 38,000 residential units. But the area is only about 40 percent developed.

Sewage from the district currently flows to the South Valley Water Reclamation Facility on 7200 South in West Jordan, which the South Valley Sewer District partially owns, along with five other facilities.

Residents contend the district doesn't need to build the plant in Riverton. Instead, they say, it can join in a planned expansion of the West Jordan facility or build a new plant elsewhere.

"If we honestly thought this was the only place it could go, we'd support it," nearby resident Golden Holt said.

Among the concerns voiced Thursday:

• Jeff Salt, the head of the Great Salt Lakekeeper organization, said open space and wildlife will be impacted. He said there is more land along the river used for golf courses than for wildlife protection.

• A resident who said she has expertise in plants said effluent water from sewage treatment, which plant supporters tout as a benefit to Riverton residents, could not be used anywhere near edible crops because of its high salt content.

• Peter Christensen, a Riverton resident and a physician, said the fastest way to get chemicals to the brain is through inhalation, and he worried about the health effects of sewage fumes.

• Salt Lake attorney Wade Budge, who represents a developer with land next to the site, said the plans do not conform to the city's general plan or zoning laws.

City administrator Mark Cram emphasized that there are many unanswered questions still and that neither he nor the mayor, the City Council, city staff or the Planning Commission has made a decision either for or against the plant.

The proposal will be voted on at a future commission meeting.

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