Vital water meeting

MAPLETON — When state environmental officials meet with area residents and city officials tonight to reveal details of a proposed $12 million settlement to resolve a water contamination issue between the state and an explosives manufacturing company, one of the major protagonists of the company will be missing.

Former Mayor Marilyn Petersen, 61, died on Monday of complications from lymphoma, a cancer she claimed resulted from water polluted by wastes buried at the Ensign-Bickford Industries plant site. An American flag is flying at half-staff in the city park in her honor.

Tonight's open house sponsored by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to explain the settlement may have its own explosive potential. City leaders say they do not believe the proposal is sufficient to resolve ongoing concerns and plan a formal presentation at 6 p.m. outlining the deficiencies they see in the plan. Doug Thayer, Mapleton city attorney, says the city will also explain why it does not believe the proposed pact between Ensign-Bickford and the state will affect the city's $100 million lawsuit against the company.

State officials say the open house is intended to give local residents a chance to comment before a final settlement is formalized with the company.

The proposed settlement would require Ensign-Bickford to put $9.38 million into a fund to pay for pumping and treating the contaminated groundwater for the next 20 years. It would also create a $2.58 million trust fund to provide clean drinking water for Mapleton residents, said Dianne Nielson, DEQ executive director.

The unhappy city officials say the offer falls short of city needs. They want an agreement that would require Ensign-Bickford to supply clean drinking water and an irrigation system for the entire town. Former state legislator David Nemelka said Ensign-Bickford has clean water sources it could trade to the city and the company could then use the treated water for its own needs.

Mapleton shut down the city's No. 1 well in 1989 when heavy concentrations of nitrates were found. Ensign-Bickford is currently using a series of wells and filters to flush the polluted groundwater aquifer that serves Mapleton and Spanish Fork.

That water, with the explosives residue RDX filtered out, is being used in pressurized irrigation systems in both Mapleton and Spanish Fork. Mapleton is supplying its residents with culinary water from other sources.

Petersen, financial adviser Howard Ruff and other Mapleton residents brought lawsuits against Ensign-Bickford and a number of former owners claiming they developed cancers because of the groundwater pollution. Phillip and Betty Jean Broadbent sued on behalf of their daughter, Stacy, who is also diagnosed with cancer.