The economic future of the Uintah Basin is looking very bright thanks to the prospect of the proposed Uinta Basin Railway. Rio Grande Pacific Senior Vice President Mark Hemphill and 7 County Infrastructure Coalition Executive Director Mike McKee joined Steve Evans for an interview on Newstalk AM920 KVEL and were beyond optimistic about the project and its potential to provide stability to the Uintah Basin economy. Early on, McKee emphasized that there has been so much coordination and correlation making this project monumental. In fact, there has not been a project like this built in the United States since the 1970s and back then there was nothing close to the permitting requirements of today. With that in mind McKee offered appreciation to many partners involved, especially his respect and gratitude for the contributions of Ute Tribal leadership. Hemphill agreed and also emphasized the importance of relationships with elected leaders on the local, state, and federal levels that have been key is seeing this project move forward. When asked what will happen to the project if Biden wins the Presidential election, Hemphill said his answer may be surprising. He said he does not believe a Biden presidency would undo the project though he admitted that they aren’t looking forward to the possibility of more restrictions. Regardless, Hemphill says the project will be far enough along by January 2021 that it will continue forward and be able to overcome any challenges. When asked how confident he is that the Uinta Basin Railway will become a reality, Hemphill responds without any hesitation that he is 100 percent confident. He believes not only will it be a reality but it will provide 2000 jobs locally for the 2 years of construction. To operate the railroad there will be at least 200 full time permanent positions and likely another 1000 additional full time permanent jobs in the oil industry itself. When Hemphill says local jobs he means they are committed to hiring local and tribal contractors for construction as well as training locals for the operation. To listen to the entire interview, visit www.BasinNow.com and click on Public Affairs under the Community tab.
