The Uncosted West · Episode 4 of 15 · 38 min
How Kennecott Avoided the Superfund List (Bingham Canyon's 72-Mile Plume)
One of the largest human-made excavations on Earth sits above a 72-square-mile plume of contaminated groundwater, and its owner avoided a Superfund listing. The episode tells how Kennecott Utah Copper and regulators used a 1995 agreement, the model for the Superfund Alternative Approach, to keep Bingham Canyon off the National Priorities List, and weighs what that meant.
Who's who
- Daniel C. JacklingMining engineer who pioneered large-scale open-pit copper mining at Bingham
Where it happens
- Bingham Canyon Mine, UtahHuge open-pit copper mine in the Oquirrh Mountains
- Salt Lake Valley, UtahRegion above the 72-square-mile groundwater plume
Timeline
- 1906Open-pit mining begins at Bingham Canyon
- 1986Utah files natural-resource-damage claim against Kennecott
- 1994EPA proposes listing the South Zone on the National Priorities List
- 1995EPA, Utah, and Kennecott agree to postpone listing in favor of a company cleanup
- 2006Bingham Canyon Water Treatment Plant begins producing culinary-quality water
- April 10, 2013Rock avalanches send about 145 million tons of waste rock into the pit
Still debated
Whether the 1995 deal served the public or the company is a genuine policy trade-off. Kennecott's share of valley air pollution and Clean Air Act compliance are disputed, and the endpoint of the groundwater cleanup is open.