Kennecott Tailings Pond

USA / Utah / Magna /
 metallurgy, waste, mining, tailings
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Coordinates:   40°44'35"N   112°7'39"W

Comments

  • Makes a lot of air pollution whenever the wind blows.
  • I drove by this area and noticed large rain-bird style sprayers are used for evaporating the fluid out of these pond{s). This adds to the validity of what FrankC commented about above. This spray evaporation process is similar to what was used in 1991 to rid a pesticide contamination, from a leaking rail car, in Lake Shasta, California.
  • Part of this area was once a salt collection plant. Salt water from the lake was evaporated there in large ponds and the salt captured for commercial use.
  • Officially, the sprayers keep the dried slurry moist so it doesn't blow into the air. Basically the slurry in the tailings pond is crushed rock leftover from copper processing which must be done close to the mine.
This article was last modified 12 years ago