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(" 3.' for some power plants. Key oil-shale executives art' divided in their opinions about the future oi environ- mental regulations. Some believe that current oil-shale technologies can meet environmental requirements, as long as new, and striclcr (t'gulations are nol im- posed on the indu,>lr\'. Others do foresee a loo<,ening of environmental goal..., but add that this \\ould only be a temporary eHeet of the energy crisis. Air: the problem with people The question of whether or not environmental standards will have to be lowered for the oil-shale industry may be answered lirs! by air. According to many obseners, air quality in the sparsely-populated oil-shale region already violates some air slandard<;,-a ke}' point in manv industr\' arguments against the standards. As in the badlv-polluted city ot Denver, air inver- sions are the main culprit in the Colorado oil-shale region, where the geographic pauern ot hills and gullies can have a dangerous trapping effect on emis- sions. After studying inversion problems, Colony de- cided to move the site of its proposed private-land plant out of a valley and up to a plateau, when.' emissions are more easily dispersed. In its criticism of the lea..ing EIS for public-land plants, the Institute oj Ecology, ,l Washington, D.C.. based environmental organization, called ior further studies of inversion problems twfore choosing these plant ..,itps. In fact, the Institute's report said the two Colorado public land tracts up for lease are "in one of the worst air basins in the <;fate." Whether or not the oil-shale plants them<;('lves will iace large air problems is a ...ubiect still open for debate. Air pollution cau..ed by plant employees, ho...... l'ver. is anoth(>r slory. All sources agree if will be a problem. "The major air pollution problem i.. going to come irom automobilt's," <;clVS Dr, Charle<' Prien, a scienti<,t with the Denver Re<,Nrch Institute (DR I) and a long. time oil-shale advocate. "We should do something immediatt'J... aboul ma<,s transit for the area. But, " he adds. "thi.; b an approach that \\e should use tor .II! ne~' indu_~tr\, not just oil ~h.Jle." Other obst"'rvt'rs point out that strip development of hou<;ing could pme large air pollution h.1Zards, and add thaI new ..elllemenTs ..hould be located on the uplands. Dr. Paul Kilburn, Colonv's environm€'ntal l'\pt'fL agr('('s that mol.... tran..il and upland housing can pOI€'nlialh-. ease am air-pollution problems that may arise, but, he says: "Those \\ould be the decisions of societ~, not ours." The Greal Salt Debale Water po...€'s another ~eries ot pOI€'ntial problems ior the oil.shale indu..trv. Woller is verv precious in the 14 n(("UTI\'1 ~\l"'1 BP..("tl'V\~~ (DITlO, fd..u..... l'l-~ region, both because oi its scarcity and its localion. All streams itow down....ard trom the area, including the regionally.importanl Colorado River, so any pollution added to The river in Colorado will affect its uses in all downstream sTates. The main pollutant in the Colorado River is salinity and all sources agree that oil.shale development will probably add to the salinity. "The industry will increase salinity by taking clean waler out of the river and not replacing it," says Kilburn, "so lhal water is not avail- able for dilution." The leasing EIS e<,limates that the salt content at Hoover Dam will increase by 1.5 percent as a result of this salinity by dilution effect of a million-barrel-per-day oil-shale industry. Many ob..ervers point out that other uses of the Colorado River-such as massive irrigation projects in areas with salty ..oil-plus natural mineral salt sources, increase the river's salinity by much greaTer amounts than the industry would. Al the Rocky MounTain Cen- ter on the Environment (ROMCOE), energy specialist Kathv Fletcher say..: "The ",alinitv contribution (of an Mining, crushing and retortmg operatIOns swell the volume of shale. Before revegetation. the spenr shale must be