Salt Lake and Ogden Receive $1.3 Million to Revitalize Contaminated Properties

At an event today along the North Temple corridor in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Regional Administrator Jim Martin presented the Mayors of Salt Lake City, Salt
Lake County and Ogden City with $1.3 million in grant awards to advance the assessment, cleanup
and redevelopment of properties. The grants are part of $69 million in EPA Brownfields funds
awarded to 245 communities nationally to advance property revitalization, job creation and
economic development.

"Salt Lake and Ogden have built a strong coalition that is taking a strategic approach to cleaning up
properties and opening new doors for investment and job creation," said EPA Regional
Administrator, Jim Martin. "These funds will not only protect public health by removing
contaminants like petroleum compounds, arsenic, and lead from urban neighborhoods, they will help
restore dozens of properties to productive use.” Environmental Protection

Solar panels power lights, curriculum at Utah schools

Solar power is no longer just a textbook topic for five Utah charter schools. A handful of schools, from North Star Academy in Bluffdale to Quest Academy in West Haven, recently installed solar arrays that power not only their schools, but also their curriculums with real-world examples of green energy.

There is no better example of that mix between education and application than at Quest Academy, where officials installed a 42-inch monitor to measure, in real time, the solar panels’ impact on the school and the environment. The monitor provides data on environmental factors such as CO2 emissions, as well as on the amount of money the school is saving by having its own power source.

So how much energy does Quest Academy’s solar array generate? About 16,800 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. Bonnie Hagen, a grant writer who snagged solar-generation dollars for Quest Academy, said the panels produce enough energy each year to run a refrigerator for 1,000 days or keep a 75-watt light bulb shining for 25 years. Salt Lake Tribune

Brigham City Engineering Company Teams Up to Revolutionize CNG Tanks for Automotive Industry

Bigger, lighter and less expensive compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks may soon revolutionize the natural gas vehicle industry and one Utah company is a key player in this new effort.

HEI currently employs a dozen people at its Brigham City location and plans to hire an undisclosed number of additional employees to meet the demands of this new project. EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards says the engineering and development work represents a timely boost for the hard hit northern Utah economy and also for Utah's aerospace cluster. Utah Pulse

Bike-related distributor opens environmentally friendly center in Ogden

Quality Bicycle Products has begun full operations at its new, environmentally friendly 85,000-square-foot distribution center in Ogden. The facility, which provides bicycle parts, accessories and apparel to more than 5,000 retailers across the country, is just off 12th Street adjacent to Ogden Nature Center.

The distribution center has a state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable design that the company expects to achieve the LEED Gold designation awarded by the Green Building Certification Institute. Features include advanced wastewater technologies, high-efficiency appliances and a design that capitalizes on natural light. Additionally, a 39.5-kilowatt solar-panel array provides a portion of the building's energy, and a 170-well geothermal system offers heat and cooling in all seasons. Standard-Examiner

South Weber Winds wants wind farm

outh Weber Winds, a locally owned firm, wants to develop a $30 million wind farm in South Weber at the mouth of Weber Canyon, using a portion of the electricity generated by the turbines to power the cities of South Weber and Uintah. The remaining energy generated would then be sold.

Scott Casas, co-owner of the company with Reuel Alder, is to appear before the South Weber City Council tonight requesting an exclusive license from the city to develop the project at the mouth of Weber Canyon. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at South Weber City Hall, 1600 E. South Weber Drive. Ogden Standard-Examiner

9 Utah solar energy projects receive Blue Sky money

Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program is helping fund the construction of nine community-based renewable energy projects in the state. Overall, more than $938,000 was awarded for 12 projects in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, including 11 solar projects and one wind project. The funding is made possible through participating Blue Sky customers, who number more than 34,000. Deseret News