SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Promoters of a 1.4 billion dollar railroad in Utah’s oil country want help from the state.
Uinta Basin officials are pushing a project they say could quintuple oil production in Utah along with bringing higher prices and create 27,000 jobs.
The plan is to build a 150-mile railroad to allow transporting oil from the basin to out-of-state markets.
But the hitch is the huge price tag.
The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition is hoping that federal grants will eventually cover the big construction cost.
But before the coalition can apply for those, it must conduct an environmental impact study.
The group plans to ask the Utah Community Impact Board next month for $27.9 million from the state’s share of federal oil royalties to help pay for that.
