Utah governor's office cashed coal company check on same day permit application was fast-tracked

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's campaign aides cashed a $10,000 check from a coal company on the same day in September that he met with the company to hear complaints about delays in the permitting of a strip mine. State regulators at the meeting listened to Alton Coal Development LLC's pleas and "agreed to fast-track a decision approving the mine near Panguitch, despite opposition from residents," Paul Foy of The Associated Press reports.

Herbert's office told Foy the governor never ordered regulators to give their approval and didn't know about the company's donation. "The decision has some residents of the small tourist town about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City concerned," Foy writes. Environmental groups are claiming the strip mine would raise dust and foul air quality 10 miles from the Bryce Canyon National Park. "This mine will damage the pristine air and water quality and wildlife of the area, increase dangerous truck traffic and have negative impacts on tourism and the visitor experience at Bryce Canyon National Park," Clair Jones of the Utah Sierra Club, told Foy.

AP obtained a 33-page memo from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining showing the result of the company's meeting with the governor was fast-tracking of a decision by regulators. While a Jan. 11 filing by Herbert's political action committee indicated that the coal company made its $10,00 donation on the same day it met with Herbert, spokeswoman Angie Welling told Foy the check actually arrived four days earlier and was deposited on the day of the meeting. (Read more)