2013 Issue

34 Response to Massive Groundwater Contamination by Mining Activities By the 1980s the extent of groundwater contamination from a century of mining operations in the Bingham Canyon mining District became apparent. Studies showed that the main contaminant, sulfate, had moved in groundwater “plumes” from the mouth of Bingham Canyon to the Jordan River. Figure 1 shows the extent and sulfate concentrations of these two plumes, known as Zone A and Zone B plumes. Over 50 square miles of land in southwest Salt Lake Valley was affected! The plumes directly af- fect the cities of West Jordan, South Jordan, Riverton and Herriman. In addition, the fu- ture northeasterly movement of the plumes threatened the groundwater supplies of all water agencies in Salt Lake Valley. 1995 Consent Decree The problem instigated regulatory ac- tion, and the Utah Department of Health (UDH) initiated action against Kennecott, the generally-believed source of the pol- lution. Kennecott and the UDH proposed a consent decree in federal court in 1990, which tacitly declared the damages to be irrevocable and which called for a Natural Resources Damage (NRD) compensation in the amount of $12-million. Following ex- tensive negotiations during 1991-1995, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ), successor to the UDH, Kennecott and the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (“the District”) submitted a consent decree to the US District Court. In the 1995 Consent Decree Kennecott agreed to fund an NRD Trust Fund. Of the total $37-mil- lion, $9-million was for Lost Use Water Compensation. Partnership with USEPA and Collaborative Engagement Following numerous negotiations and tech- nical review committee meetings during the 1990s, Kennecott reached agreement with USEPA on an extensive plan to contain the contaminant sources, and to pursue a groundwater cleanup project, ultimately involving the Jordan Valley Water Conser- vancy District (“the District”). This resulted in a 2001 federal Record of Decision (ROD) A Case Study in Vision, Collaboration, Technology and Results 1 Converting an Environmental Disaster into a Productive Asset – The Southwest Jordan Valley Groundwater Project By David W. Eckhoff, PhD, PE, with McNeil Engineering | President, Utah Section, ASCE Figure 1 – Contamination Plumes 1 Much of the narrative of this article was derived from“ANewWater Supply: Southwest Jordan Valley Groundwater Project, Jordan ValleyWater Conservancy District, January 2012”