Approval Order Modification Granted: Cornerstone:
Kennecott Utah Copper LLC

On June 27, 2011, the Division of Air Quality has approved Kennecott’s request to modify its Approval Order, outlined in a Notice of Intent (NOI). The NOI centered on a requested increase in the limit of the material moved from 197 to 260 million tons per year.

The public comment period ended on March 20, 2011. As a result of comments received, Kennecott and DAQ negotiated permit conditions that go beyond NSR rules to provide validation of emissions from the pit and augment the fugitive dust control plan. Specific additional conditions that have been incorporated into the permit include:

Fugitive Dust Control Measures

DAQ has taken key provisions from the fugitive dust control plan and incorporated those conditions into the permit. This will provide assurance that these key provisions for minimizing dust from the mine will be subjected to public review in order to be modified.

PM10 Ambient Air Monitoring

New permit conditions will require Kennecott to monitor for PM10 at two locations. The monitors will be placed at locations that DAQ determines to be modeled as the highest impacted. These stations will provide validation that PM10 NAAQS are not being violated as a result of mine operations. Kennecott will submit quarterly monitoring reports.

Pit Retention

The permit will require Kennecott to conduct a study to validate the pit retention factors that were used in establishing the combined emissions caps. Kennecott must validate the pit retention factors used in the Approval Order for PM10 and PM2.5. Though the caps are not required by regulation, they have been incorporated into the permit to further control and monitor emissions.

Related Documents

Comments

Comments received either in writing or by Email during the public comment period are posted below. Although DEQ is not required to post these comments on its Website, it has done so to aid the public discourse.

Last Updated:

Back to top