The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin cleanup next week on contaminated ground near the site of an old gas-fired power plant.
An oil spill two years ago tainted a 600-foot section of ditchbank between the Lehi Independent Power Associates facility and a privately owned livestock pond. Water from the irrigation ditch eventually flows into the Jordan River.Fred Pehrson, assistant director of the state Division of Water Quality, said there are no noted impacts from the contamination to the river. But without the cleanup, contaminated sediment could flow downstream for several years.
EPA will conduct the cleanup with funds provided by the Oil Pollution Act. It plans to remove the tainted mud from the ditch and the pond and replace it with 300 cubic yards of clean material.