From Deseret News archives:
Former site of sludge pit looking rosy
"Caution," they read. "Waste containment site."
Yet no danger lurks beyond the signs and the forbidding barbed wire-topped, chain-link fence to which they're affixed aside from the occasional skinned knee or elbow of a skateboarder.
Today, the handful of signs on the northern border of Rosewood Park is the only visual evidence of the unlined sludge pit where oil companies disposed of acidic waste for about 25 years.
Now, after 20 years of environmental cleanup, Salt Lake City government officials are transforming the formerly off-limits land into a place where Rose Park residents are encouraged to gather.
The Salt Lake City Council committed to more than $1 million in improvements to the park over the past year, including the construction of a skate park last summer.
New playground and exercise equipment has been installed, along with sidewalks and landscaping. A gravel driveway and parking lot now penetrate the park, providing easier access to baseball and soccer fields.
In the coming weeks, an off-leash dog area will open on nearly one acre of formerly contaminated land.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees. A recent report of its Superfund Redevelopment Initiative highlights the former sludge pit site as a reuse success, calling the expansion of Rosewood Park "a beautiful addition to the Rose Park neighborhood for recreational use."
"It's a functioning part of the park now," said Dell Cook, Salt Lake City's landscape architect project manager. "Before, it was a no man's land."
The contaminated land covers five acres on the north side of Rosewood Park, 1200 W. 1300 North. Utah Oil and Refining Co. used it as a dumping area for acidic waste sludge from the 1930s until 1957, when Salt Lake City purchased the land, according to the EPA report.
In September 1983, the site was placed on the EPA's National Priorities List of environmentally contaminated areas, also called Superfund sites.
The Army Corps of Engineers began cleaning up the site in 1982. A slurry wall was built around the perimeter of the site, and the waste material was capped.
The work was designed to prevent exposure to the acid-waste sludge, eliminate potentially unhealthy odors and vapors and prevent the sludge from spreading off-site through surface water or groundwater.
The EPA and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality determined in 2003 that the cleanup was complete, and the site was taken off the Superfund list.
Recent comments
How long does it take for this stuff to biodegrade?
To Any Environmental Engineer | Sept. 1, 2008 at 2:07 a.m.
- MItchell's attorneys file to withdraw 1:29 p.m.
- King Kong figurine sold in UK 1:01 p.m.
- Turkey tips from experts 12:59 p.m.
- 6.8-magnitude quake rattles Tonga 12:57 p.m.
- Police increase presence at Skyline 12:40 p.m.
- Shuttle, crews ready departure 12:37 p.m.
- CPSC: Swift action after crib recall 12:36 p.m.
- Pujols wins 2nd straight NL MVP 12:33 p.m.
- Stocks retreat on reports 12:17 p.m.
- Americans gloomy as holidays begin 12:16 p.m.
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
- BYU's Lamb, Jorgensen reprimanded
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
- Best prep football games of 2009
- KSL: Prostitution in Utah County
- Man trapped in own body for 23 yrs
- Kirilenko climbing blocks list
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale
- Fans greet returning Real Salt Lake
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
220 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
201 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
178 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
153 - BYU would like friendlier rivalry
152 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
136 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
134 - BYU records with win
132 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
103
West Jordan head man, Scott Briggs, will be taking his expertice/experiance...
Even a right wing radical like me (read that favors the free enterprise...
(im re: miles by the way) I didnt say he was the best 3 point shooter i said...
Congratulations on attending a game in the swamp, we should all bow down to...
Looks like you need to spend more time in the library learning how to write...
'Or what about those in England who must live their lives in pain because...
"Besides, it's too bad there aren't death panels to help take some of the...
UT will kill BYU on Saturday. BYUs national champeonship was a joke. They...
AndyDad | 12:26 p.m. Yet another gullible person willing to assume that we...
Thanks for your great coverage Amy!



