Harmful & Degrading: These inland port projects "fast track traffic congestion, air, noise, water, and light pollution, open space destruction, more water demand, and a degraded quality of life — exactly what most Utahns don't want wherever they live." — Dr. Brian Moench, MD, Board President, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
- Terrible Idea:
“Leaders in Utah government have a history of ignoring the will of the
people they serve. Many of these same officials also seem to be unaware
or unconcerned about Utah’s fragile environment. A case in point is the
proliferation of proposed inland port facilities. These inland ports
will substantially increase air pollution which has greater impact on
human health than previously known. Several of these proposed ports also
disregard the health of our water and wetlands. Inland ports are a
terribly bad idea that will diminish Utah’s famous quality of life.” —
Dr. Sam Rushforth, Emeritus Dean of UVU College of Science
Not Needed: The inland port project is "a solution in search of a problem." "It's a bad idea." — Dr. Ben Abbott, BYU environmental science professor
- No Study: Decisions were made by the Spanish Fork City and the Utah Inland Port Authority to proceed with the Spanish Fork "port" WITHOUT the benefit of a thorough, rigorous, independent, science-based and subsequently widely-publicized study to establish the need for, and the health, environmental and
social consequences of the inland port project. According the City Manager of Spanish Fork, no such study was done, required or needed.
Harmful Air Pollution: The inland port, mega-warehouse, industrial development and diesel-truck hub project (hereafter the "project") will likely generate harmful air pollution and its related diseases such as asthma, miscarriages, birth defects, COPD, and forms of cancer. Medical science has shown that air pollution also shortens the lives of people with long term exposure.
Truck Traffic & Added Congestion: The project will likely increase diesel truck traffic and add to our increasingly congested road and highway system.
Destroys Farmland: The project will pave-over (cover) around 2,200 acres of land including very scarce, rich, farmland with pavement and buildings. That will make Spanish Fork more industrial and increase day and nighttime air temperatures, especially in warm weather months. It will likely make Spanish Fork hotter.
Wetlands: The project will allegedly affect important wetlands, and the wildlife and birds—both local and migratory—that depend on wetlands.
- Low-Paying Jobs: The jobs the project is alleged to add would likely include low-paying warehouse jobs with little or no benefits, and which could soon be replaced by automation.
Waste of Taxes: The project would mainly financially benefit a few politically-well-connected private developers whose expenses would be partially subsidized by taxpayers.
- Will Likely Get Worse: The huge project in Spanish Fork is likely to grow and expand beyond its currently planned area of 2,200 acres, thus increasing all the adverse effects listed above.
Dissolve the UIPA: Finally, we urge that the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) be DISSOLVED since the "inland port" warehouse, diesel-truck complexes they subsidize with taxpayer funds are not needed. They also harm human and environmental health and waste our tax dollars.
Again, please share this petition widely.
Thank you.
