Resolve MagCorp's issue

There are times when litigation is necessary to resolve a long-standing dispute.

The Justice Department, suing on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, wants Magnesium Corp. of America to answer allegations that it is illegally generating, storing and disposing of toxic or corrosive wastes at its magnesium plant on the western shore of the Great Salt Lake.

MagCorp, which processes magnesium chloride from the lake's salty water, discharges thousands of gallons of waste each day into several unlined ditches and a 400-acre pond next to the Great Salt Lake. According to the EPA, that violates the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. But MagCorp claims its wastes are not covered by the act under an exemption for some mineral processes. However, the government believes certain wastes are not covered by the exemption.

This has been an ongoing dispute and it is surely time to resolve the issue and, at the same time, shed light on MagCorp's Utah operations.

MagCorp makes headlines on an annual basis as one of the nation's top polluters, spewing toxic chlorine into the air, a by-product of its magnesium product. But state regulators have noted MagCorp's emissions have improved in recent years and there have been fewer breakdowns of its pollution control devices. Company officials say they are working toward eliminating chlorine releases over the next few years.

Doubtless, these issues will be aired as this case winds through the judicial system. We hope the court proceeding will provide another check and balance to the monitoring processes of regulatory agencies and to the company's efforts to rectify problem emissions.

More importantly, the court needs to provide an answer as to whether certain of MagCorp's operation are exempted under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. If that's not the case, MagCorp would be held to more stringent requirements and sizable fines, which would, arguably, push it to operate a cleaner operation.

MagCorp, the world's third-largest producer of magnesium, has topped the EPA's list of polluting plants for years. In 1998, it released 57 million pounds of toxic air pollution, mostly chlorine gas and hydrochloric acid. This not a proud distinction for either the company or the state of Utah.

While this page would, in ordinary circumstances, prefer that opposing forces attempt to resolve their differences through negotiation or mediation, it appears a lawsuit is the appropriate vehicle to get to the bottom of these issues and end the tap dance around them.