Massive new Utah port project would turn ‘pristine land’ into a ‘parking lot,’ critics say

The project was expanded to almost 9,000 acres by the Utah Inland Port Authority.

Environmentalists were worried when the Weber County Commission approved a 903-acre inland port industrial project on sensitive wetlands and bird habitat on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.

“You shouldn’t be intentionally subsidizing development next to a globally important bird area,” Deeda Seed, with the Center for Biological Diversity, said at the time. “You also shouldn’t be building on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.”

The proposed project is part of a new approach that the entity, originally formed in 2018 to develop the northwest part of Salt Lake City into an international port, is taking. Along with a branding redesign, the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is less about ports and more about “building a better statewide logistics system.” Cities with industrial or manufacturing plans that are approved as port projects can secure additional funding through UIPA’s $60 million infrastructure bank or through the creation of tax differential funds.

“For us, we’re just saying any place where we can create that access point,” Inland Port Authority executive director Ben Hart previously said, “where we can either offload truck to rail or whatever, something that’s multimodal, that’s kind of our definition.”

He hopes the agency pursues more projects that bring “advanced manufacturing and ‘clean technology’ jobs.”

The commission recently expanded the project to almost 9,000 acres, although many residents spoke out against the project.

“You’re taking … this pristine land,” a Davis County resident said at the meeting, “[and] turning it into another parking lot for trucks, with developers who are going to be subsidized.”

UIPA also has a wetlands policy in the works. On Monday morning at the Utah Inland Port Authority’s board meeting at the Utah Capitol, Hart took a few minutes to address the proposed Weber County project.

“We’re not going to beat around the bush, there are a lot of wetlands in this area,” Hart said, “and we take seriously our responsibility to make sure that those wetlands are protected.”

He noted that the land in Weber County already allowed for industrial use and the Inland Port Authority would not change that. “What the port does bring is additional protections for existing wetlands and the lake; in addition to additional protections the inland port also brings funding,” he said.

Much of the area is currently open, agricultural land with some ephemeral ponds and birds. Compass Minerals and Westinghouse Electric Company also operate in the quiet corner of Weber County.

On Monday, Seed delivered a letter with 1,515 signatures asking the Inland Port Authority to complete traffic and independent wetland studies to “fully assess the impact to the ecosystem, along with a Human Health Risk Assessment” before handing over public resources.

“Significant public harm will be caused by paving over, destroying and impairing thousands of acres of Great Salt Lake’s biological wetlands,” Seed told the authority, “and to add insult to injury, taxpayer dollars will be used to subsidize this destruction.”

She also noted that the project would be wedged between the Harold S. Crane and Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Areas.

Rhonda Anderson-Lauritzen, a resident of Hooper, told the port authority board she frequents the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area near her home. “But I only go in for half of the year because all of the entrances are closed to all foot traffic. I emphasize this is such a sensitive area that you’re not allowed to even walk in there.”

From March through July 31 parts of the management area are closed for wildlife production, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources wildlife recreation access map.

If birds in the area are sensitive to human footsteps, Anderson-Lauritzen wondered how increased truck traffic and lights would impact populations.

“Given the close proximity to the Great Salt Lake, care will need to be taken from the beginning to ensure water-wise construction, wildlife-friendly lighting practices, and traffic considerations that minimize impacts to the surrounding area,” the draft proposal states. It also notes that roads will likely need to be constructed and improved.

Many are skeptical of the environmental protection claims and point to the loss of habitat in Salt Lake City’s northwest quadrant.

“In Salt Lake City promises were made about ‘sustainable development’ but instead giant pollution-inducing warehouses are being built and wetlands are paved over,” residents of Weber County wrote in a letter sent to the Weber County Commissioners on April 16. “They are six years into this project, and although a Traffic Study, Human Health Risk Assessment and Community Impact Study were agreed to, none of these studies have been completed.”

The Utah Inland Port Authority will formally discuss the proposed Weber County Inland Port Project in May.