SITLA board meeting

Posted on August 11, 2020 by craphaelc

Join the Virtual SITLA Board meeting

this Thursday, August 13, 2020 @ 10 am.

US Oil sands went bankrupt and defaulted on payments to SITLA.

Remember SITLA? They control Utah School Trust Lands therefore including leases for waste disposal, fracking, grazing, mining and strip mines for coal and oil. Recently SITLA claimed limited interest in Solar Power applications. Is this changing?

Listen, Watch, and Make a Comment on ZOOM.

SITLA will hold a monthly board meeting on Thursday August 13 at 10 am.

See the agenda here with instructions.

SITLA land on Seep Ridge road should be restored to the Ute tribe. It is part of the Uncompahgre reservation stolen through the dawes act.

Public comment is encouraged and occurs at the beginning of the meeting

You can register now or by 9:50 am Thursday if possible.

You can also submit a written comment.

UTSR filed a lawsuit against SITLA

UTSR fought for public accountability and transparency from SITLA. By filing a lawsuit against the SITLA Board and Exec. Director David Ure for their lack of transparency and accountability.

Utah Tar Sands Resistance does direct action AND attends SITLA board meetings.

Here is how it happened. In January 2018 SITLA (School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration), held a Board Meeting and Retreat where they mistakenly handed me a Confidential Agenda. Most importantly, the SITLA Board’s use of a confidential agenda was a serious violation of the Utah Open Public Meetings act (OPMA). Therefore, after hours of research, talking to attorneys and help from many sources, I sued SITLA myself and on behalf of Utah Tar sands Resistance for the OPMA violation. See the lawsuit here: Cordray vs SITLA

Yipee!

SITLA acknowledged mistakes and makes some improvements

In the year since I have met with attorneys for SITLA several times and sought many improvements to SITLA’s public meeting process. As a result of this lawsuit SITLA has corrected earlier mistakes and is proposing a settlement agreement for SITLA to follow and exceed OPMA requirements. We are currently continuing to negotiate an agreement with SITLA to settle this lawsuit.

SITLA director David Ure

We have had a lot of movement and improvement on virtual meetings. For instance SITLA agreed to make all board members visible on the screen at the same time (gallery view). Also they now allow live public comment during the meeting including verbatim reading of written comments into the record by SITLA staff. Other areas of focus have been the requirements for specificity of the agenda and proper public notice as well as applying the specificity to the closed meeting topics on public agendas.

I hope you will join me this Thursday, August 13, 2020 @ 10 am for the Virtual SITLA Board meeting. You can register now or by 9:50 am Thursday if possible.

Trent Staggs a bad choice for county mayor

Posted on July 30, 2020 by craphaelc

Trent Staggs is a bad choice for Salt lake County Mayor. He is currently the mayor of Riverton city. He is also involved in Vivakor, who call themselves an oil field extraction and remediation technology company. Vivakor has a long history of investors claiming they were scammed. Trent Staggs is Vivakor’s strategic development adviser.

Vivakor strategic development advisor is a bad choice for county mayor.

Under Mr. Staggs direction Vivakor or Vivaventures LLC is a scamming Utah’s school children.

Last year Vivakor Inc made this strategic claim in a paid press release:

″We are pleased the SITLA Board unanimously approved this mineral lease, allowing us to work with the State organization in verifying the asset reserve and ultimately deploying our technology on this vast 1440 acre area. We have a great working relationship with them, successfully operating on their properties previously, demonstrating our commitment to the area and the viability of our technology… stated Vivakor Chief Executive Officer Matt Nicosia.

Trent Staggs appeared before the SITLA board and agreed to terms for a special lease he made inaccurate claims and promises to the SITLA board who approved the contract. Vivakor never signed the contract and is not leasing anything from SITLA.

Trent Staggs says they will “clean up mother natures mess in Eastern Utah”

Currently Vivakor has no actual SITLA lease because they never signed the contract SITLA prepared and approved. They do use repeated press releases to generate interest in VIVK stocks and aid in a long standing pattern of pump and dump stock transactions.

Vivakor has also obtained grants for government aid and defaulted.

On June 17, 2020 Vivaventures precious metals a subsidiary of Vivakor, received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from the federal government for covid relief funds.

VivaRRT LLC. a subsidiary of Vivakor has a debt collection judgement against them from Stubbs & Stubbs Oil Field Construction, Inc. out of Vernal Utah.

Vivakor timeline and document list from UTSR research and GRAMA requests.

Tar sands future looks bleak

Posted on April 28, 2020 by craphaelc

I cannot help thinking about the Earth and nature as we watch humans around the world stop many daily activities. Civilization as we know it is on hold and the air and water are getting clearer everyday.

Land leased for tar sands in Uintah county

Columbine on tar sands lease hold in Uintah county

As the value of oil and gas collapses it reveals more problems created by fossil fuel dependency. Now is the time to turn to renewable energy.

Tar Sands value in Canada was falling even before the Covid 19 pandemic. In Utah tar sands has never made a profit. It is clear that we should stop wasting money and land on extreme energy projects like tar sand and oil shale development in Utah.

Stripmines waste Utah SITLA wastes Utah's trust.

Banner about SITLA displayed before 2017 bicycle ride.

For several years now SITLA has been promoting speculative tar sands projects that will never come to commercial success. Many groups have been saying this to SITLA for several years. By promoting unrealistic extreme energy projects and fossil fuel speculation on school trust lands SITLA added credibility to an old scam.

tar sands future is bleak in Utah.

Now they are going to try and save a sinking ship The Salt Lake Tribune reported last week:

“SITLA is looking at policy changes to give operators some relief, Adams said, such as waiving the standard penalty on those who shut in wells and extending the terms of leases.”

SITLA is facing a sharp decrease in revenue from the pandemic they should not be providing relief to fossil fuel projects.

US Oil Sands changes it’s name AGAIN!?!

Posted on January 23, 2020 by craphaelc

US Oil Sands the fraudulent tar sands strip mining company changed its name to 2020 Resources. This is the third time since 2005. They first began leasing land for strip mining in Eastern Utah, as “Earth Energy Resources”.

The newly named “2020 resources” has never actually made a profit however they have continued to pay large salaries to the CEOs after delisting from the stock market and declaring bankruptcy in 2017. All the public stock holders lost their investment and numerous creditors were forced to forgive US Oil Sands debts. For example the state of Utah. SITLA was owed $275,000 for lease payments that were forgiven through bankruptcy. “2020 resources” continues to defraud investors, local businesses and communities under this new name.

2020 resources makes false claims on their web page. There is no environmentally friendly way to turn rocks into oil. Tar sands mining is the most destructive project on earth. It has shown to be energy intensive. It takes massive amounts of water. Tar sands requires major upgrading and produces a dirty fuel. The mine site continues to remain idle as of 2019 meanwhile the CEOs who live in Canada are making money by not ever going commercial. Don’t be fooled by 2020 resources.

US Oil sands Bankrupt 2 years ago today

Posted on September 13, 2019 by craphaelc

In honor of the day US Oil Sands went bankrupt Utah Tar Sands Resistance held a party this morning at the rarely used tar factory on Seep Ridge Road. We came with a new banner, some music and announcements about the bankruptcy of US Oil Sands in 2017. US Oil Sands has wasted land and resources and cheated investors due to their bankruptcy. The idle mine is on SITLA land stolen from the Ute people it is on the Uncompahgre reservation.

Banner at US Oil Sands tar factory on Seep Ridge Road B

Now called USO Utah, the inactive mine site and factory has reduced it’s leasehold considerably. USO Utah cleared the bankruptcy courts and restructured therefore a clean bill of credit has been given to USO Utah. The contractors are there tuning up the unused equipment and polishing the useless factory to feed the real golden goose: foolish investors, creditors and the tax payers of Utah!

We arrived early to greet workers and let them know about the anniversary and the scam. We were there to let arriving contractors and service providers know that anyone who works at this project should be aware that they may not get paid. Many investors have lost their fortune to tar sands scams. US Oil Sands have harmed local workers and their families by exploiting the bust and boom cycles these scams thrive on.

night view of tar sands factory and banner

2020 Resources is the new name of US Oil Utah. Here is the idle tar factory.

Here is a list of businesses who lost money as a result of US Oil Sands bankruptcy

USO Utah is seeking investors.

Do Not Be Fooled USO Utah is a SCAM!

Update: USO Utah has changed it’s name (again) the new name is 2020 Resources.

Change SITLA

Posted on August 15, 2019 by craphaelc

It is time for Utah to change SITLA

SITLA is destroying Utah’s pristine wilderness and providing a paltry 2% of the yearly budget.

“Stripmines waste Utah, SITLA wastes Utah’s Trust”

Utah spends $4.02 billion dollars per year on k thru 12 public education.

In 2019 $82.66 million in (SITLA) school land trust funds distributed throughout schools in Utah this year.

These numbers and math show SITLA provides 2% ( 0.02056196479 ) of public school funds.

I won’t expound on the wrongful damage SITLA does to the potential for a livible future for the schoolchildren in Utah … that is well documented elsewhere … see for ex. www.tarsandsresist.org

Although SITLA contributes only 2% the money is very controversial.

How do they do it? SITLA (and I mean our governor Dirty Herbert and the Legislature) hypes the puny SITLA 2% by requiring school parents to be elected to local councils for 2 year terms to decide how to spend the 2% within strict brackets. (See story above)

A bureaucracy has been created just to serve these councils.

The councils themselves become vested in the SITLA 2%.

All this convolution is in service to perpetuating SITLA, the nefarious enterprise overseen by Dirty Herbert’s hand picked board.

Let’s all support the students who are working to CHANGE SITLA.

Regards,

~Lionel for Utah Tar Sands Resistance

Air and water pollution in Uintah County

Posted on July 20, 2019 by craphaelc

Notice of Uncontrolled Air and Water Pollution in Uintah County, Utah and Complaint made by UTSR.

tar sand strip mine Police Substation of Agent Ronald C. Barton, Utah Attorney General’s Office, for SITLA,

Deteriorating exterior insulation on a water tank serving the tar sand strip mine and Uintah County Police Substation.

Please take notice and immediate corrective action regarding the Synthetic Vitreous Fibers (Fiberglass) being dispersed without control into the air and subsequently deposited onto the lands and into the waters of the Uncompahgre reservation in Uintah County, Utah.

US Oil Sand’s, PR Springs tar sands factory and strip mine is spreading dangerous synthetic vitreous fibers on School Trust Lands.

Shredding fiberglass at US Oil sands tar mine creating air and water pollution in Uintah County.

Shredding fiberglass at US Oil sands tar mine is leaving the property and spreading into the natural environment.

The source of the fiberglass is the deteriorating exterior insulation on a water tank serving the tar sand strip mine Police Substation of Agent Ronald C. Barton, Utah Attorney General’s Office, for SITLA, located adjacent to the USOS stripmine and factory on Seep Ridge Road, in Uintah County, Utah.

BACKGROUND:

The tank and uncontrolled dispersing fiberglass is apparently owned by USO (Utah) LLC, a private Delaware corporation based in Canada.

The tank is or was used in a bonded mine plan, M0470090, which was approved by Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining.

The tank is on land leased to USO (Utah) LLC., by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and is located in Uintah County immediately west of Seep Ridge Road, just south of mile marker one.

Air and water pollution in Uintah County at PR Spings tar mine

Shredding fiberglass at US Oil sands tar mine creating air and water pollution in Uintah County.

The US Government granted the impacted lands to the Uncompahgre Utes on January 5, 1882 by an executive order of President Chester A. Arthur, later the US Government took control of the land from the Ute Tribe through the allotment process. The Uncompahgre reservation boundaries were not diminished and the Ute nation retains jurisdiction on the subject lands.

SITLA subsequently obtained title to these lands in trade with the US Government.

The USO tarsand stripmine went into bankruptcy a couple years ago and the place shuttered up. Recently some activity is occurring. Photos of the deteriorating water tank at the tarsand stripmine show fiberglass entering the environment in large pieces and small and show the water tank’s connection to Attorney General’s Police Substation. A sample of the fiberglass has been collected as indicated.

The Photos are linked HERE:

All of these photos accurately depict the conditions at this site in July 2019

The photos indicate recent activity at the USO stripmine factory site where a gas powered electric generator was placed on and near the water tank dispersing fiberglass in mid July 2019.

How can fiberglass affect my health?

Larger fibers have been found to cause skin, eye and upper respiratory tract irritation. There are other possible health effects:

A rash can appear when the fibers become embedded in the outer layer of the skin. No long-term health effects should occur from touching fiberglass. Eyes may become red and irritated after exposure to fiberglass. Soreness in the nose and throat can result when fibers are inhaled. Asthma and bronchitis is aggravated by exposure to fiberglass. Temporary stomach irritation will occur if fibers are swallowed.

What happens to synthetic vitreous fibers when they enter the environment?

Synthetic vitreous fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water. They are generally not broken down to other compounds in the environment and will remain virtually unchanged over long periods.

Eventually, synthetic vitreous fibers will be broken down if the water or soil is very acidic or very alkaline. Fibers can enter the air, water, and soil from the manufacture, use, and disposal of synthetic vitreous fiber-containing materials. Fibers with small diameters become airborne more easily than thick fibers, and can be transported by wind for longer distances. Synthetic vitreous fibers are not likely to move through soil.

Source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2004.

American Badger on SITLA land leased for strip mining

Posted on July 19, 2019 by craphaelc

american badger on SITLA land at PR Springs Utah.

This morning at our vigil camp around 9:30 am I noticed an animal moving across the meadow. It looked like a large cat or small dog from afar so I grabbed a camera and ran over to the meadow. It was an American badger. The badger ran up the dirt road and I got a few pics!

American Badger at PR Springs, SITLA land leased for strip mining

American Badger at PR Springs, raises a protest with hissing and puffing when I try to follow.

A one point it turned toward me and puffed up and growled. It was grunting and hissing as it ran off. Another amazing animal flourishing on the Tavaputs Plateau in the book-cliffs. The American badger makes it’s home on SITLA land leased for tar sands strip mining.

The badger has an interesting quality called “Embryonic diapause” or delayed implantation. This means the embryonic blastocyst does not immediately implant in the uterus after sexual reproduction. Mammals may undergo diapause to avoid the risk to their own lives during unfavorable conditions.

Nature is wise.

Public scoping begins on Uinta Basin Railway

Posted on July 1, 2019 by craphaelc

Desert primrose in the Uintah Basin

The Uinta basin railway will be devastating to the planet and the people.

Submit a written comment

OEA will accept public scoping comments through September 3rd 2019.

The easiest way to submit your written comments is via the “Submit Comments” tab at http://www.uintabasinrailwayeis.com/.

This was written by the center for Biological diversity:

Uinta Basin Railway Comment Writing Guide

Background:

The proposed Uinta Basin Railway oil train would increase production of oil from the Uinta Basin by between 225,000 and 350,000 barrels of oil per day. In a region that currently only produces around 80,000 barrels per day, this would represent a quadrupling of oil extraction, which would have dire consequences for air quality, public lands, water, and global warming. The construction and operation of the railway itself would also have major impacts. Three possible routes have been identified, but the 80-mile Indian Canyon route has been identified as the preferred option and is most likely to be constructed. At least $27.9 million in public funds have already been illegally dedicated to forward the project and the ultimate cost of the railway would be at least $1.2 billion. Maps and additional information can be found at: http://www.uintabasinrailwayeis.com/
- Static maps of the three routes can be found in this document and if you have Google Earth, you can view the routes on an interactive map by opening these files.
For more background on the Uinta Basin Railway, check out this op-ed: https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2018/12/23/commentary-cib-should/

Major Concerns:

Air pollution in the Uinta Basin has already reached dangerous levels due to oil and gas development. By quadrupling oil extraction in the region, the railway would exacerbate this problem, resulting in more asthma attacks and other harmful conditions that can lead to premature death.
The extraction and combustion of four times as much oil from the Uinta Basin would threaten our ability to avoid the most disastrous effects of climate change by staying under 1.5°C warming.
Fossil fuel development requires large amounts of water. At a time when water security for the region is more tenuous than ever, increased oil development unleashed by the Uinta Basin Railway would threaten the region’s water supply.
The new development needed to create a fourfold increase in oil development in the Uinta Basin will result in major impacts to the region’s landscapes, including on public lands.
New oil train traffic will create increased inconvenience, air pollution, and risk of derailment in the communities through which the trains travel.
If the railway is constructed, but recoverable oil reserves in the Uinta Basin are exhausted before it is paid off, taxpayers could be left to cover the cost.
To date, there has been very little information about the Uinta Basin Railway provided to the public and little opportunity for public participation. The uncertainty around many details of the project is concerning and should be resolved before the project moves forward.
Committing funds to constructing the Uinta Basin Railway is precluding efforts to transition away from boom-and-bust fossil fuel economies — which are susceptible to volatile global markets — and towards more stable, local, clean, sustainable, and just economies.

How to Submit:

The easiest way to submit your written comments is via the “Submit Comments” tab at http://www.uintabasinrailwayeis.com/.

Public Scoping Meetings

OEA will hold six public scoping meetings in communities in the project area during the public comment period. The public scoping meetings will be held at the following locations on the dates listed.

Monday July 15, 2019, 3-5 p.m. at the Ute Tribal Auditorium, 910 South 7500 East, Fort Duchesne, Utah. Start Printed Page 28613
Tuesday July 16, 2019, 5-7 p.m. at the Moffat County Fairgrounds Pavilion, 640 E Victory Way, Craig, Colorado.
Wednesday July 17, 2019, 5-7 p.m. at the Carbon County Event Center, 450 S Fairgrounds Road, Price, Utah.
Thursday July 18, 2019, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Grace Event Center, 1024 W Highway 40, Roosevelt, Utah.
Thursday July 18, 2019, 5-7 p.m. at the Uintah Conference Center, 313 East 200 South, Vernal, Utah.
Friday July 19, 2019, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown, 215 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.