The Rio Tinto-owned mine produces copper used in electric motors and power lines, tellurium for solar panels and, in smaller quantities, other precious metals like gold and silver.
As it does, the mine also releases millions of pounds of arsenic, lead, selenium, mercury and other toxic chemicals – including some that can damage the brain and nervous system, cause insomnia and cancer – every year, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI.
Many of those chemicals come to rest in massive tailings ponds to the north, and Kennecott gathers and disposes of the crystals left behind as the water evaporates.
Because the mine moves “millions of tons” of dirt and rock with naturally occurring trace levels of metals reportable to the federal government each year, the facility manages a massive amount of waste that it must report as part of the TRI program, according to a statement sent by Jane Putnam, spokesperson for Rio Tinto Kennecott.
But the mine is doing what it can to reduce releases of TRI-reportable chemicals and compounds, Putnam said, including a switch to renewable diesel and continuous monitoring of emissions.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.