Commentary: Impact board squanders millions in opportunity costs

Brian Maffly | The Salt Lake Tribune Since 2014, the Price River Terminal in Wellington has been trans-loading oil from trucks to rail cars, opening a new path for Uinta Basin crude to reach out-of-state markets. It shipped about 7,500 barrels a day to Houston-area refiners in 2018.The Utah Community Impact Board, which disburses mineral lease monies, met recently in Vernal. I felt it my civic duty to learn and contribute.

The main item on the agenda was a proposed railway into the Uinta Basin. As the meeting started, a handful of protesters rose and stood, in polite but obvious opposition to the railway project. I was scribbling furiously on a scrap of paper, taking notes in anticipation of…