Region 8
Superfund Program
National Information
Regional Information
Site Information
National Priorities List (NPL) History
Proposed Date
1/18/1994
Withdrawal of Proposed Listing
9/3/2008
Kennecott South Zone/Bingham
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Site Type: Proposed NPL City: Copperton County: Salt Lake Street Address: 10200 South 8400 West Zip Code: 84006 EPA ID: UTD000826404 SSID: 081B Site Aliases: Includes Bingham, Butterfield, Lark, Revere, Yampa, Utah Silver Congressional District: 3 |
Site Status & Updates
On September 3, 2008, the 1994 proposal to list the Kennecott South Zone site on the National Priorities List (NPL) was withdrawn and the withdrawal was published in the Federal Register.
On May 21, 2008, EPA finalized a Remedial Design/Remedial Action Consent Decree prescribing future cleanup activities. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) concurred with this action. This also put into place an enforcement mechanism and financial assurance to ensure that the cleanup and the operation and maintenance of the remedy will continue.
Site Description
The site includes the Bingham mining district in the Oquirrh Mountains, about 25 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The mountain range represents the west boundary of the Salt Lake Valley. Mining activities at the site began in the 1860s and continue to the present at the large Bingham Canyon open-pit mine. Historic mining operations produced lead, zinc, silver, copper, molybdenum and gold ores.
Kennecott Utah Copper Company (Kennecott) and the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) have cleaned up mine waste dumps, mill tailings, smelter wastes, groundwater and surface water, including wetlands, with oversight by state and federal agencies.
In 1990, EPA and UDEQ found that homes had been built on former flood plains contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic. Kennecott and ARCO, with EPA, UDEQ and community input, conducted studies to determine the nature and volume of the contaminated wastes.
Cleanups involved eight separate sub-sites. These sub-sites have been completed:
- Bingham Creek residential neighborhoods
- Bingham Creek channel
- Large Bingham Reservoir
- Butterfield mine waste rock and other canyon wastes
- Herriman residential neighborhoods
- Lark tailings, mine waste rock & wetlands
- South Jordan evaporation ponds
- Anaconda tailings
Cleanup of these sub-sites involved digging up near-surface soil wastes with high lead and arsenic levels, and removal of the wastes to collection and storage areas. More than 25 million tons of mining wastes have been removed. Removal of the surface wastes was completed in 1999.
Site Risk
From 1863, early miners in the area processed gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper, and erected many mills and smelters. They deposited most wastes in the creeks or on the nearby flood plains and valley slopes. The wastes eroded and were deposited downstream. The primary landmark in the district today is the large, open-pit Bingham Canyon copper mine.
High levels of lead and arsenic were found in Bingham Creek and Butterfield Creek. Neighborhoods were built on contaminated flood plains and creek beds. Acid waters, from the leaching of wastes, escaped from the collection system and contaminated the groundwater under the site. A plume of contamination has spread in the groundwater.
The plume begins as a solution of acidic heavy metals and sulfates. In about a mile, the acid is neutralized by the soils, and the metals begin to separate. The sulfates continue through the aquifer to the nearby Jordan River. The contaminants cover more than 72 square miles. Well-drilling permits have been suspended in the area. The site was proposed for the NPL in January 1994.
In 1995, Kennecott, EPA and the State of Utah signed an agreement, saying that Kennecott will continue the cleanups and EPA will defer final listing on the NPL.
| Media Affected | Contaminants | Source of Contamination |
| soils, sludge, groundwater, surface water, sediment, solid waste | lead, arsenic | mining wastes |
Cleanup Progress
The long-term action is to cleanup and contain groundwater contamination. A Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in 2000. Cleanup and treatment designs have been conducted in coordination with a Natural Resource Damage Settlement. A water treatment plant began operation in the spring of 2006. EPA finalized on May 21, 2008 a Remedial Design/Remedial Action Consent Decree prescribing future cleanup activities.
The 1994 proposal to list the Kennecott South Zone on the NPL was withdrawn on September 3, 2008 and this withdrawal was published in the Federal Register. UDEQ concurred with this action. The request for withdrawal was made pursuant to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the EPA, UDEQ and Kennecott signed September 1995.
Pursuant to the terms of the MOU, Kennecott agreed to complete numerous cleanup projects for the site and the nearby Kennecott North Zone site. Upon Kennecott's completion of these activities, EPA agreed to take no further action related to final listing of the site and, after construction of all cleanup projects, to proceed to withdraw the proposed listing.
The schedule for five-year reviews:
| OUs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11 | September 2010 (complete) |
| OUs 3, 6, 7, 17 and 18 | September 2010 (complete) |
| OUs 2 and 16 | 2013 |
| OUs 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22 and 23 | To be determined |
Community Involvement
A group of stakeholders, representing diverse interests, meets no less often than annually. The group, known as the Technical Review Committee, discusses progress on the site and makes recommendations on future activities.
Site Documents
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Best way to open a very large file: right-click and save it to a folder.
Addendum to the 2010 Five-Year Review for OU1, September 2011 (PDF, 2 pp, 534K)
Annual Update to the Five-Year Review: OUs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11, December 2010 (PDF, 3 pp, 45K)
Annual Update to the Five-Year Review: OUs 3, 6, 7, 17 and 18, December 2010 (PDF, 5 pp, 63K)
Second Five-Year Review Report: OUs 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11, September 29, 2010 (PDF, 80 pp, 1.8MB)
First Five-Year Review Report: OUs 3, 6, 7, 17 and 18, September 30, 2009 (PDF, 83 pp,1.7MB)
– Appendices are located in this FTP folder
RD/RA Consent Decree, May 2009 (PDF, 104 pp, 3.3MB)
Federal Register Notice re: Proposed Rule No. 49 withdrawing Kennecott South Zone from proposal to the NPL, September 3, 2008
Records of Decision (RODs) for cleanup of this site
Contacts
EPA
Rebecca Thomas
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street (EPR-SR)
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6552
800-227-8917 ext. 312-6552 (toll free Region 8 only)
thomas.rebecca@epa.gov
Peggy Linn
Community Involvement Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street (8OC)
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6622
800-227-8917 ext. 312-6602 (toll free Region 8 only)
linn.peggy@epa.gov
UDEQ
Doug Bacon
Project Manager
Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Environmental Response & Remediation Division
195 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
801-536-4282
dbacon@utah.gov
Dave Allison
Community Involvement Specialist
Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Environmental Response & Remediation Division
195 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
801-536-4479
dallison@utah.gov
View Documents at:
West Jordan City Hall
8000 S. Redwood Road
West Jordan, UT 84088
801-569-5100
EPA Superfund Records Center
1595 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6473
800-227-8917 ext. 303-312-6473 (toll free Region 8 only)