Officials of the Utah Department of Environmental Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and Kennecott are discussing ways to clean up mining waste contamination at Kennecott facilities.
Robert L. Duprey, director of EPA's regional hazardous-waste division, said talks started in February when Kennecott approached the agencies about an expedited cleanup.Although the EPA hasn't made a final decision on including Kennecott sites in Utah on the EPA's priority list for Superfund cleanup, "we are actively discussing creative approaches to a quick and comprehensive cleanup of waste areas involving Kennecott," Duprey said.
The EPA said Kennecott seems anxious to clean up mine wastes.