Explosives plant closing

SPANISH FORK — A Utah County explosives plant that is accused in a $100 million lawsuit of polluting Mapleton's water supply will close in February.

The plant's parent company Ensign-Bickford Co. made the announcement Thursday. Company spokesman Mike Long said the company has decided to focus on its other ventures, which include an aerospace and defense division and a realty company.

A string of lawsuits against the company were not a factor in the decision, Long said.

The announcement came little more than a month after a truck carrying 38,000 pounds of explosives from the plant tipped over while rounding a sharp curve U.S. 6. The truck's cargo exploded, injuring nearly a dozen people.

The explosion destroyed the truck and opened up a crater in the highway some 30 feet deep and 70 feet wide, twisting the track of a nearby railroad.

The closure announcement pleased Utah Valley residents who have been in ongoing legal battles with the plant.

"That's the best news I've heard all day," Mapleton Mayor Dean Allen said. "That plant is close to residential developments here in Mapleton, and there's been a lot of major issues."

Attorney Douglas Thayer, who is representing Mapleton in the city's multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Ensign-Bickford, said he was "thrilled" at the announcement. One of the requests in the suit was for the court to order the factory to close, he said.

"I think it's a disaster waiting to happen," he said. "If that plant blows, it could take out Mapleton, Springville and who knows what else."

Some 90 employees will be put out of work by the move. Long said the company would have severance packages for them.

Thayer said he feels bad for the employees who will lose their jobs but thinks the plant's closure will ultimately be a good thing.

"I don't want to be too glib about this, but from a health and safety standpoint, it's good news," he said.

Allen said he believes the county's economy is strong enough to absorb the 90 jobs. "I think it will be a win-win situation for everyone involved," he said.

The plant has operated near the mouth of the Spanish Fork Canyon since the early 1940s. It has had several owners over the years.