Utah Superfund Site: International Smelting And Refining
Fight Air Pollution & Water Pollution With an Environmental Toxic Tort Lawsuit

Are you in need of a Toxic Tort Lawyer in The Beehive State? The E.P.A. has designated International Smelting And Refining in Utah as a Superfund site due to its levels of environmental toxins and harm to the natural world. You can read the report for the site below.

Some Superfund sites are on the National Priority Site Lists. The National Priorities List ("NPL") is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protection Agency regulations outline a formal process for assessing hazardous waste sites and placing them on the NPL. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation.

Sites are listed on the NPL upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening, public solicitation of comments about the proposed site, and after all comments have been addressed. EPA may delete a final NPL site if it determines that no further response is required to protect human health or the environment. Sites where a remediation was completed through the Superfund program are typically deleted from the NPL.

Living near Superfund Sites in Utah may place you and your family at higher risk of getting sick from proximity to the site and experiencing a loss of value for your property, but action is being taken to fight back: The EPA says,

[We have] set up a "Post Construction Completion" (or PCC) strategy to ensure that Superfund response actions provide for the long-term protection of human health and the environment. EPA's Post Construction Completion activities also involve optimizing remedies to increase effectiveness and/or reduce cost without sacrificing long-term protection of human health and the environment.

Below you can read the EPA report for the International Smelting And Refining Superfund site. If you, a loved one, or someone in your community has gotten sick due to exposure to a Superfund site International Smelting And Refining, or if your property has lost value because of pollution, you are better off with a toxic tort lawyer who knows the people of the State of Utah . You can begin the process of filing a claim by filling out this simple form. There is no obligation, and your case will be evaluated within one business day. To refer a friend, neighbor, or loved one, follow this link to let them know about the environmental toxic tort lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg.

International Smelting And Refining

This site is not a Federal Facility.

ABOUT THE SITE . . .

The International Smelting and Refining (IS&R) site is located on the west flank of the Oquirrh Mountains near the mouth of Pine Canyon.  It is approximately 2 miles northeast of Tooele, in north-central Utah.  The canyon is drained by Pine Creek. 

Copper smelting began in 1910.  The smelter had a capacity of 4,000 tons of copper ore per day.  Two years later copper ore supplies declined and IS&R built a lead smelter.  In 1915 Anaconda (now ARCO - the Atlantic Richfield Company) purchased the IS&R subsidiary.  Over several years the owners added a lead-zinc sulfide flotation mill and a slag treatment plant for lead and zinc recovery.  Copper production ceased in 1946 when the copper smelter closed.  Lead smelting ceased in early 1972 and the site was reclaimed in 1986.  An estimated 650,000 tons per year of tailings, slag and flue dust were produced during early operations at the IS&R site.

Emissions of metal-containing smoke and acid gases were reported during IS&R operations.  Livestock deaths in the area of the site were attributed to arsenic, lead and sulfuric acid poisoning.  UDEQ (Utah Department of Environmental Quality) documented 20 cattle deaths due to cadmium poisoning.  During a 1985 site inspection, EPA noted dust blowing off tailings.

The site covers about 1,200 acres.  There are approximately 330 acres of tailings, 27.5 acres of metals-contaminated slag, 13 acres of settling ponds, about 50 acres of landfills and 125 acres of smelter wastes.  Investigations indicate the presence of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc in the soils, tailings and slag.

Soils in Pine Canyon, Utah (formerly Lincoln), about 1.5 miles northwest of the site, have been affected by emissions from the site.  A 1985 EPA study documented dust blowing off tailings piles and during a 1996 UDEQ study, children were observed playing on bare soils.  The site is accessible and used (illegally) by off-road motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle users.  The area surrounding and including the IS&R site was designated the "Carr Fork Reclamation and Wildlife Management Area" in 1994.

As part of a Reclamation/Stabilization Plan, ARCO demolished all the buildings on-site, consolidated and isolated waste, graded the site with uniform slopes to minimize erosion and planted a vegetated cover.  After the reclamation effort ARCO entered into a conservation easement agreement with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to manage the site for wildlife habitat and conservation values.

UDEQ performed an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) in 1996.  Results indicated that the soil cap over numerous source areas was eroding or poorly vegetated.  The source areas did not have containment features, and numerous tailings piles were deposited along the banks of  Dry Creek, a drainage south of the site and Pine Creek.  Data from the ESI indicated metals in soil, surface water and ground water.

EPA is concerned with the impact of past, present and future releases from the site.  The impact on soil/sediment, surface and ground water quality and the effectiveness of the vegetated cover are also areas of concern.  EPA and UDEQ developed draft risk management goals and objectives for the site.  These management goals and objectives will be used to design the environmental investigation for the entire site.

The site was placed on the NPL (National Priorities List) in July 2000.  ARCO, a potentially responsible party at the site, is conducting studies to further characterize the waste on site.  ARCO will also evaluate a variety of clean up options.
 

source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Act Now! It is essential that you inquire about your pollutant lawsuit as soon as possible. Utah law may limit your time to bring a legal claim to protect your rights. Your legal review is free and there is no commitment. You case will be evaluated immediately, so get started on your claim today!

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see also:

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