Feds, state issue contamination cleanup bill to Kennecott

After spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 15 years cleaning up two contaminated plumes, the government's bill has finally arrived for Kennecott.

In a document filed in U.S. District Court, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Utah Division of Environmental Quality have formalized their request to be compensated for past and future costs in supervising the mining company's water cleanup project.

The filing is asking a federal judge to finalize a consent decree between Kennecott and the two government agencies back in 1995. Both Kennecott and government officials say the court's finalization will make official the work that the mining company has already done for the past 15 years, but will add financial penalties should Kennecott lapse in its promise.

The project was set up to clean up contaminated ground water around the Bingham Canyon mining operation, which now encompasses parts of Herriman, South Jordan and West Jordan cities. Part of the agreement is to run filtration systems which will provide clean water to those cities and remove mining chemicals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium.

In a joint announcement, state and federal officials say when the consent decree is finalized by a federal judge, it will ensure that Kennecott will continue to work on cleaning up the contamination.

"People who live near or around this area deserve to know that everything possible is being done to make sure the water is clean and that the area will not be recontaminated. This agreement will help make that possible," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

Kelly Payne, remediation project manager for Kennecott, said his company remains committed to cleaning the groundwater and estimated that the company will be involved in the cleanup for decades to come. So far Payne estimated Kennecott has spent over $400 million in environmental cleanup projects, including soil cleanup, since the early 90s.

The request to finalize the current consent decree comes after a federal judge finalized a similar consent decree back in 1995 for groundwater contamination in the southwest part of the Salt Lake Valley. The 1995 decree resulted in Kennecott paying $9 million in cash for damages and placed a $28 million line of credit for treatment.

The current decree, if approved by a judge, will see Kennecott paying out $15 million to ensure future work and another $5 million to be paid to state and federal agencies for their costs in monitoring.

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