The groups contend that new dikes and drying ponds could hurt 5 million birds representing 250 species, as well as nesting birds that use the salty lake each year.
They have appealed a decision by the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to give Great Salt Lake Minerals a 10-year lease on 36 square miles of land on the lake's west side. In the appeal filed with the state agency, the environmentalists allege that officials did only a cursory, inadequate study of potential impacts before approving the leases.
"Before approving leases and development plans and allowing them to move forward, the state needs to take a hard look and analyze what is going on," said David Becker, a lawyer representing the organizations, which include the Utah Audubon Council, Friends of the Great Salt Lake, Utah chapter of the Sierra Club, League of Women Voters, The Nature Conservancy of Utah, Utah Airboat Association, Utah Rivers Council and Utah Waterfowl Association.
Great Salt Lake Minerals has used dikes and drying ponds to harvest minerals from the Great Salt Lake since 1970. The approval allows it to expand its operation to an area the size of Salt Lake City, about 119 square miles, or 7 percent to 13 percent of the lake's surface depending on water-level cycles. The company says it has reached capacity amid growing demand for potassium sulfate.
Dave Grierson, sovereign lands coordinator for the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said the appeal was not unexpected.
He denied that the agency acted without sufficient information. It relied on existing research that included bird surveys on the lake's west shoreline, he said. The agency also received information from the Division of Wildlife Resources, a sister agency within the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
DWR director Jim Karpowitz said many of the issues of concern to wildlife interests would be addressed in a federal environmental impact statement by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Peggy Landon, a spokeswoman for Great Salt Lake Minerals, agreed, saying the state lease is only the first step in building the dikes, which she said would not hurt the lake environment.
"It is a lengthy process and a process that will give all interested a parties a chance to be heard," she said. "The EIS study has not been initiated, and the [state] lease would not give us the authority to begin construction. It requires a permit and would include comprehensive environmental impact studies."
Becker, the attorney representing the environmental groups, said the federal study would come too late in the process.
"The state can't rely on a process it has no control over that will be done by the federal government at a later date," he said. "There are [state] statutes designed to protect the resources of the Great Salt Lake and make sure that the resources that belong to all of us are protected from being exploited by a single private entity for economic benefit."
The fate of American white pelicans on Gunnison Island is a top concern of the environmental groups.
The island's isolation from people and predators, they say, make it an ideal nesting area for the pelicans, as well as California gulls and peregrine falcons. The groups worry that having dikes moving to within two miles of the island could make it vulnerable to predators and human trespassers, particularly when the lake level is low.
The DWR also raised concerns about the pelicans on Gunnison Island in its report.
The state took the DWR's concern into consideration, but concluded there "would not be a substantial impact to nesting populations of American white pelicans," Grierson said.
"We looked at the impacts of both and, in our analysis, the north arm of the lake is so salty that wildlife use is pretty limited," he said.
In comments to the state, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also expressed concerns about the project and the cumulative impacts of all commercial operations on the Great Salt Lake. It suggested that the leases be postponed until the state conducts more studies on the potential impacts.
Grierson said the appeal will be reviewed by the Department of National Resources. He expects at least one hearing to be conducted on the matter. After that decision, the next legal avenue for either Great Salt Lake Minerals or the environmental groups would be District Court.
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* TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
