This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Tooele — Eighteen years ago, when the Pentagon pulled the rug from under Tooele Army Depot with a partial closure, fear rippled through the county, which has long been dominated by military spending.

"People were preaching doom and gloom," recalls Nicole Cline, Tooele County's economic development director. "People were practically giving their homes away."We were all going to starve."Except they didn't."The exact opposite happened," says Tooele Mayor Pat Dunlavy.New industries were courted to replace the 1,950 heavy-truck maintenance jobs eventually lost at the depot, the economy became more diversified, higher education opportunities blossomed and the retail base grew as Tooele County - like Salt Lake and Utah counties on the east side of the Oquirrh Mountains - thrived well into the 21st century.That experience is on the minds of government leaders now as they brace for another major military shutdown, the impending closure of the U.S. Army's Deseret Chemical Depot, 27 miles south of Tooele."It really is totally different than it was back then," says Dunlavy."Anytime you lose jobs, it's significant," says the mayor, elected in 2005. "But we're hoping that the growth things we're working on ... will help mitigate that." - A slow-moving shutdown. It may be a rotten time to lose one of the county's top employers, but several aspects of Deseret's shutdown soften the blow.For one, it won't happen all at once. It will be mid-2014 before the last employees lose their jobs.For another, everyone knew from the start that the high-paid jobs would not last forever.The Deseret Chemical Depot, built to obliterate chemical weapons stockpiled at Tooele Army Depot since World War II, began testing its incinerator in 1993 and at the time figured the work would be finished shortly after the year 2000. Deseret held more than 43 percent of the nation's stockpile and was the first of six sites to begin destruction. Testing glitches and other problems delayed incineration once work was under way in mid-1996, but Deseret Chemical now expects to complete the job by February, in time to meet the April 29, 2012, deadline set by a treaty among 188 nations to rid the world of chemical weapons.The first layoffs will occur between January and March, when 100 employees of URS Corp. (formerly EG&G), the plant operator, will leave. URS employs 900 of the plant's 1,500 employees. The U.S. Army has another 300, and subcontractors employ the rest.Already, the plant's employment is down 100 from a year ago as people have moved on, some to retirement, some to such employers as Kennecott or the two chemical-weapons destruction depots still with stockpiles in Colorado and Kentucky.URS is offering lucrative incentives, roughly a year's pay, to those who stay to help the company finish the job, says spokesman Mark Mesesan.The Army's incentives are considerably more modest, says spokeswoman Alaine Grieser, who figures she could buy an iPad 2 - the price tag is $499 - with her bonus. Of the 300 Army employees, about 40 percent will be eligible for retirement when it comes time to leave. - Stay or go? Each of the employees is weighing the options: stay for the money or jump on the first good opportunity?"It's what's best for you and your family," says Cody Hunter, an operations supervisor who has spent his career working for URS at the depot. He's 33 and began work there at age 20.Neither Hunter, a Stockton native, nor his wife, a Tooele native, wants to leave, so he's not been looking for jobs at other chemical-weapons destruction plants.The couple refinanced their home and are avoiding new debt to be ready, but Hunter worries about trying to match his current salary when he does hit the labor market.The average pay for URS employees at the depot is $69,389 a year; Army employees make $54,864 on average, according to a consultant's study for the city and county in August. By contrast, Cline says, the average worker in Tooele County makes $39,600 a year. "When we start looking for jobs, and my wife sees what other jobs around here pay, she may say, 'Wow,' " says Hunter. "She might decide she wants to go."For Kendall Thomas, the decision is a bit easier. He'll be 62 by the time he is laid off from URS in mid-2013.A Stockton Town councilman, Thomas plans to run for Tooele County Commission. If he loses, he'll retire and volunteer in the schools.The job losses will be much harder on the younger folks, he says, even if they have taken advantage of the education benefits like he did. URS paid for Thomas to finish his bachelor's degree.The depot closure also will be hard on his small town of 600, where roughly 15 of the depot employees live. "Those are tough positions to replace in a small community," says Thomas. - 'We'll see.' Businesses throughout the county are worried - or already feeling the pain."It's hurting a lot of people, and it's going to hurt a lot more," says Bill Moss, whose work drilling water wells for homes has about dried up."Nobody's building out here because everyone's leaving," says Moss, who lives in Rush Valley, not far from the depot. "There are houses all over for sale."Kelly Clark, a partner with her husband and another couple in Hometown Hardware in Grantsville, says the depot sometimes buys bulk jackets, thermal underwear, tape or other supplies.But it's the loss of depot employees' business that worries her. "When they start to lose their jobs and move away or collect unemployment, that will have a bigger impact on us."Thai House in Tooele gets more than 75 percent of its business from the county's military installations, and that has the owners worried, says Nantawan Webber. "We'll see," she says, in between ringing up take-out customers on a recent evening. "We'll see." - 'Make lemonade.' Cline, the county's economic development director, and Tooele's mayor are somewhat optimistic.Unlike in 1993, when Congress adopted the recommendation of the Pentagon and the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to close down part of Tooele Army Depot, the county's job base is much broader.Hundreds of acres and warehouses at the depot were turned over to the city, which created the Utah Industrial Depot, attracting businesses such as Detroit Diesel, Carlisle SynTec Inc., and Hunter Panels.Dunlavy says the business park has replaced many of the Army jobs lost in the 1990s, but more good news is on the way. The city is courting one major employer that would offer salaries in the $50,000 range and has two other good possibilities.Utah State University's branch campus has grown markedly, and the Tooele Applied Technology College plans to break ground for a building in the spring. Cline says Miller Sports Park near Grantsville has been a boon, as has Walmart's Distribution Center at Grantsville and Allegheny Technologies' titanium plant near Rowley. The county now has a business resource center that helps small businesses to thrive, and the city and county are both working with USU to get an industrial incubator.A major retail project likely will go forward once the economy turns around, Dunlavy says.Cline says the depot's closure may be sour news. But, she says, "We're working to make lemonade out of this thing." kmoulton@sltrib.com —

Chemical depot's closure will have economic impacts

Tooele County will lose more than $1 million in annual mitigation payments from the federal government.

Job losses could mean a loss of $112 million in labor income directly and indirectly for Tooele County.

Tooele City could lose nearly 10 percent of its total sales tax revenue, or $407,310. Tooele County could lose over $71,000, or nearly 4 percent.

Indirect tax losses, those from related businesses and households, could amount to $5.6 million for Tooele City and Tooele County.

Sources: U.S. Army, URS Corp. and "Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis," and August 2011 study by Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham Inc., consultants for Tooele City and Tooele County.