FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2004
Contact:
Dianne Nielson, State of Utah Natural Resource Damage Trustee, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, (801) 536-4402
(Salt Lake City, Utah) – A proposal to clean up sulfate-contaminated groundwater in the Southwest Jordan Valley area of Salt Lake County has been revised and public comment is being reopened, according to Dianne Nielson, State of Utah Natural Resource Damage (NRD) Trustee and Executive Director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
After considering feedback from the public and, later, from the Stakeholder Forum, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District and Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation revised the proposal. Specifically, Zone B/Lost Use operations include revised options for managing reverse osmosis concentrates from water treatment, with no discharges to the Jordan River and associated wetlands. The District has withdrawn its permit to discharge waste concentrate from the reverse osmosis treatment to the Jordan River. The proposal for Zone A remains unchanged.
New opportunities for public and scientific review include establishing the Stakeholder Forum to facilitate review and discussion of issues concerning groundwater cleanup, and coordination with stakeholders and agencies to study selenium in the Great Salt Lake and establish a numeric standard for the lake.
As a direct result of public comment, DEQ established the Stakeholder Forum. This group is comprised of representatives of communities, interest groups and agencies affected by the groundwater cleanup project and other remediation work underway by Kennecott. The Forum provided feedback to the District on alternatives for managing wastes from the Zone B/Lost Use treatment. It will continue to serve as a forum for review and discussion of various aspects of Kennecott’s remediation programs under EPA and DEQ oversight.
The District has proposed working with agencies and interested parties to conduct a two-year scientific study on selenium in the Great Salt Lake. In coordination with local, state and federal agencies and stakeholders, the DEQ Division of Water Quality is initiating a program to establish a numeric selenium standard for the Great Salt Lake. Discharges to the lake are subject to regulation and permit. Currently, standards exist for tributaries and are established on a case-by-case basis for the lake.
The revised project means that the provisions of the Consent Decree will be implemented. It will provide 8,235 acre-feet per year of municipal-quality drinking water from a resource that is currently not available because of contamination. One acre-foot per year is equivalent to 325,851 gallons of water, the amount of water a family of four uses in a year.
The revised project also means that the contaminated groundwater will be removed and treated, thereby shrinking the contaminant plumes and restoring the aquifer. This is especially important in order to prevent further migration of the plumes to adjacent municipal well fields, private wells and the Jordan River.
Furthermore, the revised project means that the movement of the contaminated plume toward private wells will be minimized. The Consent Decree does not address third-party claims or private well owner water rights. However, as the project moves forward, there is a commitment from both Kennecott and the District to address quality (contaminant-related) and quantity (drawdown) impacts to individual well owners. This will be done on a case-by-case basis, using specific review procedures.
Public comment is being reopened for 45 days to allow the public to consider the revisions to the original proposal. Comments will be accepted on only the revisions to the proposal and the implementing agreements. The public comment period begins June 18 and runs through Aug. 2, 2004. The public is invited to comment on the proposed changes, detailed in the revised proposal to the NRD Trustee and the implementing agreements.
Public comments can be provided to the Trustee via e-mail at nrdtrustee@utah.gov or by fax to (801) 536-0061 or by mail to Utah Department of Environmental Quality, NRD Trustee, P.O. Box 144810, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4810. Comments must be transmitted or postmarked on or before Aug. 2, 2004.
Public comment will be accepted at a public hearing to be held on Wednesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the South Jordan City Council Chambers, 1600 W. Towne Center Dr., South Jordan.
Copies of the revised proposal and the agreements which implement the proposal are available online at www.deq.utah.gov/issues/nrd. Hard copies of the documents can be viewed on business days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the West Jordan City Hall, 8000 S. Redwood Rd., West Jordan, and at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, 168 N. 1950 West, Salt Lake City.