Environmental impacts of proposed Utah Lake bridge discussed

PROVO (Deseret News) — Sam Rushforth called Utah Lake the misunderstood jewel of Utah County.

The Dean of Sciences and Health at Utah Valley University spoke about the history of Utah Lake and concerns he has if the proposed bridge over the lake gets approved during the Utah Valley Sierra Forum at the Provo Library Wednesday night.

The Utah Valley Sierra Forum is a local environmental group and an informal affiliate of the Sierra Club.

Rushforth has been studying at the lake for 35 years and said there needs to be an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) conducted while the bridge over the lake is being considered.

If the Utah lakebed had been owned by the federal government, an EIS would have been mandatory, but since the lake is owned by the state, no EIS is required.

Rushforth would like to know more about the possible salt run off, pollution from vehicles and increased urbanization caused by a bridge over the lake.

"I can't believe someone would build a six-lane, 70-mph road across the lake without someone asking what is it going to do to the critters in my lake," he said.

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