Kennecott apologizes again for tailings risk

MAGNA — Kennecott Utah Copper president Andrew Harding apologized one more time Thursday for the sins of past company leaders.

Harding said he was sorry that 20 years ago Kennecott officials weren't up-front with Magna residents about knowledge of risks with a seismically unstable part of Kennecott's south tailings impoundment.

"I don't know what they were thinking at the time," Harding told about 75 people at a Magna Town Council meeting Thursday. "All I can say is, I wouldn't have made the same decisions."

Kennecott has been trying to address concerns over a 1997 document that suggests the company and state conspired to keep quiet a 1988 study that showed how the southeast corner of the old south tailings impoundment might break loose in a strong earthquake.

Harding said it was an "awful" decision by past Kennecott officials, including former president Frank Joklik, to not be more proactive about informing nearby residents about the dangers.

People at the meeting were skeptical about whether Kennecott would not be involved in a new, independent study of the tailings pond, since the company is paying for it. Harding, who predicted the study results wouldn't be available for at least six months, said he is confident that the corner is safe today.

"But I can't expect you to believe me," he told the crowd, referring to the corner's safety.

Harding, who has only been the president for four months, also repeated his pledge that if the new study reveals that the corner is unsafe and the news negatively impacts property values, "then Kennecott will make up the difference."

Some residents had questions about dust blowing into their homes and were worried about contamination from mining waste. They also wanted to know what will happen to the tailings pond when Kennecott is done mining in the future.

Harding said Kennecott regularly samples dirt from its tailings waste and tried to assure people they are safe, noting they can also get the dust in their home tested. As for the old south tailings pond and the newer north impoundment, Harding said the tailings aren't going anywhere.

A few Magna residents received some comfort from hearing that the south impoundment no longer holds water and that remaining water mixed in with tailings and dirt underneath the surface is being drained.