Ground water near this former smelting operation in Midvale, Utah is contaminated by the 2.5 million tons of slag, containing dangerous heavy metals like lead, arsenic, chromium, and cadmium.
According to the EPA plan, the land will be beautified, but the groundwater will probably remain contaminated.
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The Midvale Slag site, a former smelting facility, covers 446 acres in Midvale. A small portion of the site extends into the city of Murray. The site contains slag and hazardous smelting wastes, posing a threat to human health and the environment. It was added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1991. It is next to Sharon Steel, another Superfund site that has been cleaned up, which contained former ore-milling facilities.
The discovery that the Sharon Steel Corporation was polluting the environment came in 1982 when the Utah Department of Environmental Quality tested some Midvale children’s sandboxes which contained tailings from the plant. Upon testing, they discovered high levels of lead in the sand. Later, the US Geological Survey tested the town’s water supply and found high levels of arsenic as well as iron, manganese and zinc.
Smelting operations began in the vicinity of the site in 1871. Since then, five separate smelters have been located on or near the site. The smelters treated ores from Bingham Canyon and other mines.
Studies begun in 1984 found that ground water and soil are contaminated with heavy metals. Today there are 2.5 million tons of slag containing lead, arsenic, chromium, and cadmium, along with other smelting wastes. Potential human health threats include drinking contaminated shallow ground water, or swallowing, inhaling or handling contaminated soil and wastes.
Testing by the Utah Department of Health indicated that the slag contains high concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals. The slag is found on the surface and down to a depth of 20 feet. Hence there is a potential for ground water contamination. Several municipal wells serving an estimated 440,000 people are within 3 miles of the site.
The superfund clean-up plan states that the remedy will result in hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining on the site. The groundwater will remained contaminated.
The City understands that the plan involves limited action on the ground water which includes ongoing monitoring of the plume and the levels of contaminates discharged into the Jordan River. Midvale is supportive of this alternative believing that it strikes the appropriate balance between the impacts of contaminated ground water on human health and the environment and a cost effective method to move the site forward to reuse.
–JoAnn B. Seghini, Midvale City Mayor source
The proposal contemplates virtually no action with respect to contaminated ground water on the east side of the Jordan River, but anticipates that the contaminated ground water will be allowed gradually to migrate into and be dispersed by the Jordan River over time. The proposal completely fails to account for the changes in ground water dynamics which will be caused as the uncontaminated portions of the shallow aquifer are developed over the next few years.
–Robert P. Hill, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District source
The proposed plan naively assumes that flow rates and patterns in the shallow aquifer will remain unchanged for the next 300 years, notwithstanding the substantial development of drinking water wells in the aquifer that is already under way.
–David G. Ovard, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District source
If this continues to remain a polluted area it not only harms the health of everyone, but also will continue to downgrade the area. This is not fair to anyone who believed Midvale as a vital part of the Salt Lake City Valley, and still believe could be a hub of the Valley, with various contributions from not only business, but from a lovely place in which to reside.
–Russ Becker, Ball Feed & Horse Supply
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