US Mag moving closer to Superfund status; Kennecott site taken off list

One Tooele County company has officially been proposed to be listed as an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site, while a proposal to list another company just over the county line has been withdrawn by the EPA and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Rowley-based US Magnesium was officially proposed to be listed on the National Priorities List — a list of the nation’s most contaminated sites — Wednesday based on EPA claims that “there are uncontrolled wastes on the property which investigations show are threatening the health of workers and the environment.”

Tom Tripp, technical services manager at US Magnesium, said the company is examining the documents from the EPA.

“I expect to meet with the EPA and learn more details, and see if there is something to be done,” Tripp said.

Meanwhile, EPA officials withdrew a proposed Superfund listing for Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation’s South Zone — which includes the Bingham Mining District in the Oquirrh Mountains — after the company completed cleanup projects at the site.

That listing was initially proposed in 1994. According to the EPA, in September 1995, the company, the state DEQ and the EPA entered into a memorandum of understanding, which outlined that upon completion of specific cleanup actions, the EPA wouldn’t take any more action toward listing the site and would withdraw its proposal.

Kennecott completed several projects at the site, including “addressing and controlling sources of groundwater contamination, cleaning up the South Jordan evaporation ponds and assessing and cleaning up a number of historic mining facilities,” according to the EPA.

Kelly Payne, remediation manager for Kennecott Utah Copper, said the EPA’s decision to remove the South Zone from the proposed Superfund site list comes as a result of about 15 years of work done by the company to clean up different environmental issues, which included soil and groundwater contamination.

A North Zone, which was proposed for listing separately, was not withdrawn yesterday. However, Payne said he expects that proposal will be withdrawn within the next year or two, since the company has completed remediation work in that zone as well.

The North Zone includes the tailings piles, smelter, refinery and a couple of mills. Contamination included primarily lead, arsenic, copper and selenium.

Since the early 1990s, Kennecott has spent more than $400 million on cleaning up the two zones, Payne said.

Treatment for groundwater contamination in both zones involved pumping and treating the water, he said, which will still continue.

“That’s going to be several decades worth of pumping and treating,” he said.

He added that what KUC will do in the North Zone, and what they have already done in the South Zone, is enter into a consent decree, requiring the company to remediate contamination to the EPA’s satisfaction. This agreement includes setting aside money for the continuing cleanup.

It’s unknown if a similar agreement could occur between US Magnesium, the EPA and the UDEQ. According to Peggy Linn, community involvement coordinator for Superfund sites with EPA’s Region 8, an agreement like the one with Kennecott depends on numerous variables.

“Every site is different and it depends on what the problems are, if there is a potentially responsible party, and how willing they are to pay for cleanups. In the case of Kennecott, they realized it was probably to their advantage to say, ‘Look, let’s figure out a way to not list it and we’ll get it cleaned up.’ I don’t think they ever admitted it’s their problem, but they’re there and willing to clean it up.”

Linn said there are other sites, however, where the only way the EPA has gotten the potentially responsible party to pay for the cleanup is through the courts.

Public comments on the proposed listing of US Magnesium are being accepted from Sept. 3 to Nov. 3. They can be mailed in writing or online. Visit http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/ut/usmagnesium/ for instructions on how to submit comments and for more information.

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com