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Show ...,-- . Llivll i?i vLj3 i i.LST 23v5 SOU i1; j'i1 oii LAKE. vJI'iif UT ..4 ' ffiyr it n 50C Home of the World's Largest Missile VOLUME 86 NO. 19 & Mining Center THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1994 Magna area residents line up at the mike to support Kennecott in its battle to stay Siiperfund List held by the federal Environmental Protection off the dreaded Agency. MAGNA, UTAH 84044 panel of local and state dignitaries answered questions of concerned citizens at a Superfund public hearing last Wednesday at Brockbank Junior High. The panel was moderated by an EPA representative from Denver. A Kennecott fights to stay off Super fund List; at lends crowd public hearing support Large KUC wants to do its own cleanup; EPA says it only needs assurance dbch that Kennecott has the those by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR The battle lines are drawn. Kennecott Utah Conner Corporation (KUCC) officials say they want' to continue their own waste cleanup of old minbut the federal ing materials Environmental Agency (EPA) has The EPA Protection other ideas. wants assurance To avoid main for a long time. A large delegation of Magna residents as money, being earned out expertise, and desire if KUC is by Kennecott. The only catch to complete the cleanup job is that the EPA takes control of the project and does it their already in progress. willEPA is the Otherwise, regardless of cost, inway fund least of the to at convenience, or damage it ing part Utah if the it causes. copplaces project on ... Meanwhile, Justjhe mere., the, per mining company. dreaded Supernmd National placing of a cleanup area on the Priorities List. Supernmd List places a stigma in this EPA list which the on the community Thats will re uses to assist cleanup projects that case, Magna -- . point as well as spokespersons from other communities in the west Salt Lake Valley responded at a public last meeting Wednesday in the Brockbank Junior High auditorium. Without exception, they supported Kennecott,.,. A long lineup of supporters, including the mayor and city manager from Midvale, responded. They asked pin- - annexation? Kennecott plans to shift tailing ponds mile to the west beyond SLC boundary by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR Whether it be for the benefit of the birds, or to escape the controversy over annexation by Salt Lake City, Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation is going to relocate its north tailing ponds. The plan announced this week is to shift the J500 million expansion site about one mile to the west of the out of the reach original site of Salt Lake City. The original site was almost adjacent to the Salt Lake City boundary, near enough that Salt Lake City officials had talked about invoking a seldom used law that allows a city to annex a large development if that development is within mile of the city boundary. one-ha- lf Salt Lake City officials allege that KUCC officials changed the location to prevent that from happening. KUCC spokesperson Alexis Fernandez says thats not so. The reason for the move to the west, she notes, is that moving the tailing ponds to the west one mile reduces by the amount of wet lands that would have to be replaced (by KUCC) somewhere one-ha- lf else. announce, With Kennecotts ment to shift the expansion further to the west, Salt Lake City Planner Doug Wheelwright said, It will be an improvement over what was proposed, and will reduce the chance of messing up our plans for development of that area. He noted that Salt Lake City plans to provide land for two large residential neighborhoods in that area one on each side of Interstate Highway 80 near 7200 West. He said that developers were fearful that the tailings site might scare off home buyers. Kennecotts tailings proposal covers an area of more than 14 square miles, and will parallel for about six miles. The tailings site will be landscaped so as not to be an eyesore to motorists, KUCC officials stressed. Salt Lake City Mayor DeeDee Corradini criticized company officials for attempting to have e the law changed to avoid being annexed into the city. But now, Magna has jumped into the politico ring with Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County over control of land in the western Salt Lake Valley. half-mil- by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR The Salt Lake County Commission agrees with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that cleanup of hazardous waste materials is essential but not necessarily hinded by Superfund. In a prepared statement by the Commission, the governing body felt that the cleanup process could be accomplished by agreement or contract without the federal funding. The Commission stressed that the damage done when a (cleanup) project is placed on three-memb- er the Superfund National as is the case Priorities List with Kennecott the major damage done is to the homeowner living in the area, such as Magna. Secondly, areas designated as Superfund sites are severely disadvantaged in competition for private and public capital. Banks redline such areas, and access. reason for advocating that cleanup be carried out under contract or agreement between KUCC and the EPA rather than Superis that the Supernmd fund designation will interrupt the current cleanup effort, and will delay final attainment of en-- , A third and vironmental health standards. It is for these reasons of speed in rehabilitating and environment, and of fairness to our citizens, that we vigorously oppose the proposed listing of Kennecott Utan Copper Corporation on the Superfund list and urge Kennecott and EPA to come to an agreement that will satisfy health and environmental goals without a Superfund designation, the Commission k study. They ripped up our greenery and never replaced it. Our cjty is a mess, he said. . Kennecott has spent S85 million in cleanup efforts since 1989 and plans to spend 125 million in additional funds to clean up the remainder of the contaminated sites. What more does the EPA expect? asked Preston Chiaro, KUCC vice president in charge of environment. A Cyprus High School student asked: Why cant the EPA just leave Kennecott alone so they can do their job? may be i: slain dept stated. They noted that it is one of the Commissions major The- - .EPA representative never denied that the EPA made a lot of mistakes with that project, and we dont blame them for feeling the way they do. The project also cost a lot of money as EPA spent an average of 137,000 per lot in that study, commented the city manager. He stressed that 700 one third pieces of property of the total lots in Midvale had their property devalued to only 1100 for property tax purposes. The stigma placed on projects (communities) when placed on the Superfund List are primarily economical. For example, banks and loaning institutions will not lend money to home owners for purchases or renovations thus, few properties are sold or purchased during the cleanup process, it was explained. Range. Several Magna citizens last week signed petitions for Magna to begin a campaign to incorporate into a city. The proposed boundary would be west of 7200 West to the Tooele County line and south of Interstate Highway 80 to 9600 South. The proposed area would encompass all of Kennecotts including the piloperations ings sites. responsibilities to assure the safety and welfare of its citizens, and to promote the prosperity of our citizenery. Although the Superfund program is intended to ensure safety of the populace and their envornment, it is often cumbersome. When Superfund designation is the only route to cleanup, this may be an acceptable tradeoff. But these sites under consideration are already being reclaimed by KUCC and are still under an ongoing cleanup program by KUCC. Superfund will serve only to stimulate criteria to ensure that the cleanup process will continue. Both of these goals could be accomplished with an agreement or contract between the without a need two parties to have KUCC placed on the Superfund Priority List, the Commissioners emphasized. The mayor and city manager of Midvale warned Magna residents that the EPA must be watched closely so that they don't do to Magna residents what they did to Midvale residents during a recent soil EPA 1 County Commission opposes Kennecott waste cleanup done by Superfund public community impact or development funds cannot be used in these designated areas. Thus, the community loses both private wealth in its real estate and public funds to which it would otherwise have ot questions representatives from Denver and they disagreed with EPAs strategy to place Kennecott on the Superfund List. An EPA spokesperson said water and soil samples will be taken from most of the west Salt Lake Valley, including in and around Magna, beginning iq May and continuing for -- several weeks. Kennecott officials have balked at EPA interference because they have spent tens of dollars in of millions efforts along the cleanup Mountains disposOquirrn and other of tailings ing materials at seven of 10 designated sites on the south side of the hills, and three of four sites on the north Oquirrh ' x ' -- v :;4 Si. .' , 4 Vv- - , i S V, .Vf Its only in the planrilix a T ; stage, but eventuallytnerecry be a. community park at J proximately 4100 South 7203 west named after one cf 2 t ' : ; Magnas fallen heroes. The Magna Area Council, I (MAC) wants to name the site I after Michael Scott Welcker, a", Salt Lake County deputy sheriff ; who was killed in the line 1 duty. 2 His parents are Lewis I Lois Welcker, both of L Lewis was a long-timmadst In the commuriy r Michael spent his chll.ll. 1. L s- - V$ tf v v e, -- t Magna. Michael k- wt ti. t:' known landccrpcp I became a deputy rhe; .4V4 years Df r from Cyprus ju He was shot to dc; f morning of Feb. 24 X and several other d i tempted, to arrest a -- . h t' t t .. 4ft |