Completion of the Five Year Review
Update: November 29, 2010
The EPA and UDEQ completed the Five Year Review of the selected remedies for Operable Units 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of the Kennecott South Zone in September 2010. During the review, the EPA and UDEQ examined current information, carried out site inspections, and conducted community interviews to evaluate all of the remedy components.
This was the second Five Year Review conducted at these operable units. The remedies at Operable Units 4, 10, and 11 are protective of human health and the environment. The remedy at Operable Unit 5 is currently protective, and at Operable Unit 1 a protectiveness determination has been deferred because it is unclear if all properties were cleaned to the residential lead standard. For both Operable Unit 1 and 5 to be protective in the long-term, land use controls must be fully implemented.
Report
- Second Five Year Review Report
Kennecott South Zone OU1 Bingham Creek, OU4 Bingham Reservoir, OU5 Anaconda Tailings, OU10 Copperton Soils, OU11 Bingham Canyon [historic facilities]; CERCLIS ID: UTD000826404; Copperton, Salt Lake County, Utah; September 2010
Startup of the Kennecott South Zone Five Year Review for Operable Units 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11
EPA and DEQ are conducting a Five-Year Review of the remedial actions performed at the Kennecott South Zone. The Five-Year Review is required since contaminants remain in portions of the site above levels that allow for unrestricted use and unlimited exposure.
The Kennecott South Zone is located about 18 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and includes several features associated with historic mining as well as areas contaminated by mining wastes which migrated from source areas to cities and towns. These include Bingham Creek (Operable Unit No. 1 (OU1), Copperton Tailing (OU5), Copperton Soil (OU10), Bingham Canyon (OU11) and the Precipitation Plant (OU24).
Mining at the site began in 1893 and has continued ever since. Waste management practices of early miners included the dumping of wastes directly into mountain creeks or storing them adjacent to streams. The streams carried the waste down into areas of the Salt Lake Valley that have since been developed.
Site remedies involved the excavation and disposal of mine wastes and contaminated soils or consolidation and capping of mine wastes. The Site was cleaned up in 1999. In some cases, land use controls were required to minimize disturbance of capping remedies and to minimize human exposure to wastes that remain at the Site.
This will be the second Five-Year Review for the Kennecott South Zone Site. The Five-Year Review is scheduled to be complete by December 2009. If you would like to provide input or get more information about this Five-Year Review, please contact:
Doug Bacon (dbacon@utah.gov), UDEQ Project Manager: (801) 536-4282
Dave Allison (dallison@utah.gov), UDEQ Community Involvement: (801) 536-4479