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<br />nOlJ5!' <br /> <br />CASE STUDIES <br /> <br />SWEETWATER COUNTY, WYOMING <br />Rock Springs and Green River/Jim Bridger Power Plant <br /> <br />Sweetwater County provides an example of how <br />severly an unprepared community can be impacted <br />by energy boom growth. In also provides an example, <br />more recently. of attempts to develop effective local <br />response capability. <br />Rock Springs, the largest city in Sweetwater County, <br />started as a railroad mining town, but declined in the <br />1950's as the railroad shifted to diesel power. Trona <br />mining was also important in the county, but con- <br />tributed little to employment growth. Population <br />grew by only 500 persons during the entire 1960's. <br />The 1970's are a far more turbulent decade for <br />Sweetwater County. In 1971, the Pacific Power and <br />Light Company and the Idaho Power Company started <br />construction of the Jim Bridger Power Plant. This <br />1550 megawatt electric generating plant had, at peak <br />construction in 1974, over 3,000 employees. Total <br />county construction employment increased from 370 <br />in 1970 to 4,900 in 1974. At the same time, mining <br />employment unexpectedly rose from 1,500 to 2,650. <br /> <br />In four years, total county employment doubled (see <br />Figure 8). <br />Population rose just as fast, from a total 3 per cent <br />increase for all of the 1960's to a rate of 19 per cent <br />per year from 1970 through 1974. The ,ate of growth <br />has fallen off only slightly for 1975. <br /> <br />Sweetwater County <br />Rock Springs <br /> <br />1960 <br />17,900 <br />11,700 <br /> <br />1974 <br />36,900 <br />26,000 <br /> <br />1970 <br />18,400 <br />12,000 <br /> <br />Projections by Denver Research institute indicate <br />that county population will be between 40,000 and <br />49,000 by 1978, and could be as high as 89,000 by <br />the mid.1980's. While this growth has had, and will <br />have, many positive effects, it has also generated severe <br />negative impacts. The Denver Research Institute, after <br />intensive analysis of the boom in Sweetwater County. <br />said: <br /> <br />"This boom has: <br /> <br />11 Degraded the quality of life. Housing services, <br />recreation, educational facilities all lag far behind the <br />needs. <br /> <br />Figure 8 <br />SWEETWATER COUNTY BOOM <br /> <br />40,000 <br /> <br />30,000 <br /> <br />10,000 <br /> <br />Population <br /> <br />10,000 <br /> <br />1960 <br /> <br />Source Den~e' Rese~rch Insl,tule <br />(Re1erlofoolnole2) <br /> <br />, <br />/ <br />/ <br />/ <br />/ <br />/ <br />/ <br />// Projectecl <br />// ---- <br />/ -- <br />/ -- <br /> <br /> <br />/t'IEmplo,ment <br /> <br /> <br />Baste Construction <br />Employmellt <br /> <br />1970 <br />YEAR <br /> <br />1974 <br /> <br />1980 <br /> <br />49 <br />