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    A corporate land and water grab is happening in Utah -- and the Trump administration isn't doing anything to stop it

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory
    August 22, 2019

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    The Citadel Ruins are the remains of Anasazi cliff dwellings in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Citadel Ruins at Bears Ears (Photo credit: Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management)

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory

    A company wants to mine sand in southern Utah about 10 miles from Zion National Park to use for fracking and has signed contracts to buy more than 391 million gallons of water a year from a nearby city and a water district.


    Environmental groups and an animal sanctuary are trying to block improvements to an 0.81-mile unpaved Utah county road in Kane County about 10 miles northwest of Kanab, Utah, on federal land that the business, Southern Red Sands LLC, would need to operate. The Bureau of Land Management is considering the request.

    The Center for Biological Diversity and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said the project “will likely have significant, negative environmental impacts.” An endangered snail found only in the Grand Canyon and in small ponds near the proposed mine could be harmed.

    The Kane County Planning Commission approved a permit in July for Southern Red Sands after about 100 people attended a hearing, speaking about everything from climate change to marring the beauty of an area that includes glimpses of scenic pink cliffs.

    'Inevitable' Project

    “Regardless of what we do here tonight, this project will go forth,” said Kanab Mayor Robert Houston at an earlier meeting.

    Sand is used in fracking to hold open fractures in rocks to allow oil to flow out. The sand, often quartz sand with very round grains, has to be able to withstand intense pressure without being crushed. Much of the frac sand comes from the South and Midwest states such as Wisconsin. The mining uses vast amounts of water, as much as 2 million gallons a day.

    Critics of the proposed mine such as the Best Friends Animal Society have questioned whether it would harm the water supply for Kanab and the surrounding area. Utah is the third driest state in our nation. Kane County gets about 15 inches of rain a year, less than half of the national average, and relies on the Navajo aquifers.  Utah had its driest year on record in 2018.

    Chad Staheli, the CEO of Southern Red Sands, wrote in the Southern Utah News that studies have shown “more than sufficient water reserves.”

    Hugh Hurlow, the groundwater program manager for the Utah Geological Survey, sent Kanab what he called “rough estimates” about the impact of drilling a well for the mine and said the numbers would have “too many assumptions and simplifications to make any significant water rights or long-term planning decisions.”

    State and Local Connections

    The manager of the Kane County Water Conservancy District, Mike Noel, is a former Utah state legislator and former BLM employee who built a reservoir on an American Indian burial ground. Noel’s brother-in-law, Andy Gant, is a Kane County commissioner and the operations manager for the proposed mine.

    Noel said the mining company is “led by some of finest people in the state” including Kem Gardner, a prominent Utah developer and associate of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Gardner helped bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City.

    Gardner’s son-in-law, J.T. Martin, a former Salt Lake City councilman, signed paperwork for the lease in 2018 as an officer for Integrated Logistics LLC, a previous name for Southern Red Sands. The company address in Salt Lake City is the same as Integrated Energy Companies where Gardner is the chair of the company board.

    In May 2019, Southern Red Sands held active mining claims on 10,357 acres of BLM land surrounding the proposed mine site, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

    Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

    We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

    Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

    Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
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    Should Trump be allowed back on social media?

    Here's how protesters are mocking police in Brooklyn Center

    Bob Brigham
    April 15, 2021

    When Daunte Wright called his mother shortly before he was shot by former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter, he told her he was being pulled over for an air freshner.

    It turns out, he was pulled over for expired tabs even though there were delays of multiple months to obtain tabs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Reporter Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of The New York Times reported police had added two rows of fencing, on which protesters were hanging air freshners.


    Some new additions in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, tonight:
    • Two rows of fences in front of the police department
    • Roads blocked off by police in all three directions
    • Protesters have hung air fresheners to the fence pic.twitter.com/Kw6V0yrxJn
    — Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (@NickAtNews) April 16, 2021

    Fox 9 anchor Karen Scullin posted video showing a large number of air freshners hanging from the outer fence.

    Demonstration smaller - vocal - 2 layers of fencing https://t.co/QpUHhql2xd
    — Karen Scullin FOX9 (@Karen Scullin FOX9)1618535982.0

    Capitol police leadership ripped to shreds amid new bombshell revelations surrounding Jan 6 riot

    Matthew Chapman
    April 15, 2021

    On Thursday, writing for Slate, Aymann Ismail blasted Capitol Police leadership following the new watchdog report that revealed how, ahead of and during the Capitol insurrection, higher-ups ordered officers to stand down from their most effective riot control methods even as they pleaded for backup.

    "I expected police in military gear and a response as aggressive as I've come to anticipate covering and observing protests over the past year, where a single water bottle thrown at a cop line can bring a volley of tear gas and percussion grenades in retaliation," wrote Ismail. But instead, "I'd never seen law enforcement show this level of restraint at any protest, much less a riot."

    As Ismail noted, inspector general Michael Bolton "found that Capitol Police leadership dismissed threat assessments and forbid rank-and-file officers from appropriately responding to the threat" even though the agency's own intelligence noted that "Congress itself is the target on the 6th" and "Stop the Steal's propensity to attract white supremacists, militia members and others who actively promote violence may lead to a significantly dangerous situation for law enforcement and the general public alike." The officers were told not to use stun grenades and were given faulty equipment, including shields that shattered on impact with rioters' weapons.

    All of this, wrote Ismail, spoke to how the pro-Trump rioters were subject to a completely different standard of law enforcement than that brought to bear against Black Lives Matter protesters.

    "I have no idea what was in the heart of the former police chief or his leadership, but his and others' actions seem to fit a pattern that any hyphenated American is very familiar with, the chasing of perceived threats and the abandoning of evidence-based policing based on stereotypes, or just plain racism," wrote Ismail. "Not only does that drive a dagger through a community's trust in law enforcement, but it's also proven to be an obstacle in hindering actual police work. As much as this new report reveals, it leaves a fuller institutional reckoning with what happened on Jan. 6 for another day."

    You can read more here.

    Seth Meyers reveals the mistake Matt Gaetz should have seen coming

    Bob Brigham
    April 15, 2021

    The host of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" on Thursday updated his viewers on the latest news on the alleged Matt Gaetz sex scandals.

    The host played a clip from CNN.

    "We've learned these parties were held at a house in a gated community in suburban Orlando. The women we spoke with said, when some of the women arrived, there were rules. For example, the first thing some of them were asked to do was put away their cell phones," CNN's Paula Reid reported. "And we're told folks mingled and shared drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy."

    Meyers focused on the details in the reporting.

    "You know, my grandmother used to say nothing good happens after midnight and I'd say the same is true about anything that happens at a party at a gated community in suburban Orlando where they make you give up your phone," he said.

    "As a general rule, never go to a party at a gated community in suburban Orlando where they make you give up your phone," Meyers explained.


    The FBI Seized Matt Gaetz’s Phone Amid Sex Trafficking Investigation: A Closer Look www.youtube.com

     
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