Local flexibility in spending mitigation monies: a case study of successful social impact mitigation of the Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah

In 1978, an SIA, focusing on needs assessment and identification of attitudes, was conducted in the Delta, Utah (USA) region because of the proposed large coal-fired power plant which significantly altered the local physical, economic, and social environment. Local and plant officials developed a mitigation plan. Over $100 million was allocated to mitigation with considerable local control in spending the money. Longitudinal data collected prior to the announcement and during construction, and qualitative data collected 13 years later, allow an assessment of the short-and long-term impacts of the power project.