Fossil fuel fund set aside to help Utahns being returned to industry, lawsuit says

$28m grant was intended to help rural communities recover from oil drilling not help industry expand deeper into the state, suit claims

In July 2019, a proposed railway intended to shuttle fossil fuels across a mountainous corner of eastern Utah received a $28m grant from a local, state-run community fund. The financing allowed the group behind the railway - the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition - to kick off a federally mandated environmental impact survey, that would need to be completed before construction could begin.

There was just one problem: the grant came from a pot of money set aside to help Utahns recover from the state's legacy of oil drilling, not help the industry expand deeper into the state.