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AMERICAN FORK, Utah (AP) -- With a high-rise hotel in the works nearby, operators of a smelly sewage plant in Utah County say they'll make some changes as soon as possible.
"The board will certainly get a lot of heat, more than they're getting now, with that kind of development on the border here," engineer Larry Bowen told the board that oversees the treatment plant.
There's an odor problem along Interstate 15 because processed sludge is composted and dried in the open air off exit 275. Timpanogos Special Services District hopes to cure it with a multimillion-dollar expansion by 2010.
But that's still a few years off. At Bowen's recommendation, the Timpanogos board voted unanimously last week to start the process ahead of schedule and get some changes in place by the end of the year or early in 2008.
"You've got Pleasant Grove city with all of these plans. They're going to have their high-rise hotel, they're going to have their convention center, and there's a lot that will be done by spring of 2009," Bowen said.
Some board members said they were hesitant to spend money on equipment that would improve the smell but become obsolete when the plant's expansion is complete.
"I feel like there is a little responsibility that should be taken by the businesses that have been encroaching (in the area), because it's not our fault that they came," board member Glen Vawdrey said.
------ Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
