Group may buy Geneva emission credits (original) (raw)

OREM, Utah — An Orem man wants to buy a part of Geneva Steel — not to keep a piece of the now-closed steel mill's history but to buy the bankrupt company's emission reduction credits and cut air pollution.

"Having been a longtime resident of Utah County, I have come to enjoy the fact that we can see across the lake and take deep breaths and all that kind of stuff," Bruce Parker said.

Parker is the associate vice president of academic affairs at Utah Valley State College and part of a fledgling citizens group that wants to buy and retire emissions credits.

The credits are part of an offset program begun in 1992 after the Environmental Protection Agency said Salt Lake and Utah counties didn't meet the acceptable standards for pollutants, said John Jenks, an environmental engineer for the state Division of Air Quality.

Companies are allowed to release a specified tonnage of certain pollutants as part of normal business operations. If they use less, they can sell those credits to other businesses in their air shed.

Geneva is selling its credits that allow for more than 7,000 tons a year of various pollutants. The amount accounts for almost 86 percent of all emission credits in Utah County.

Getting rid of emissions credits could clear the air and create a better environment for living and working, Parker said.

But the idea could require Parker's citizens group to do some hefty fund-raising.

Geneva Steel Trustee Jim Markus said his goal is to get the most value from the sale of company assets. If the citizens group can offer that value, the company will consider selling the credits to it, but the group is not the only potential buyer.

"We've actually contacted a number, and explored with buyers a number of strategies, including one that would call for a kind of donation of credits so they'll be retired," he said.

Parker said his group hasn't contacted Geneva yet because they're still testing the interest of residents, local businesses and local governments to see how many would be willing to help finance the purchase, which could be expensive.

The value of the credit is determined by market interest.

Clyde Rhodes, president of ES Environmental, a company that specializes in air quality, said three of the four pollutants in which Geneva owns credits have recently sold for more than 5,000aton.ThatcouldmeanParker′sgroupcouldneedasmuchas5,000 a ton. That could mean Parker's group could need as much as 5,000aton.ThatcouldmeanParker′sgroupcouldneedasmuchas34 million to purchase the credits.

But a large number of credits on the market could also drop the price, Rhodes said.

"They might not be worth $50 a ton when they're in that supply," he said.