The Salt Lake County Tailings Impoundment Committee will seek bids from consultants as early as Tuesday - a move that could produce a consultant by the end of October to determine whether Kennecott's mine-waste impoundment could fail during a major temblor and threaten nearby homes.

The committee adopted final plans Wednesday for hiring a consultant.

The timeline calls for receiving all bids by Oct. 1, interviewing applicants Oct. 22 and picking a consultant Oct. 29.

Once selected, that engineer will have one year to complete the investigation. Kennecott has earmarked $250,000 for the project, but has pledged to pay more if needed.

The probe was prompted by news stories that Kennecott, in the late 1980s, concealed the danger of its tailings impoundment rupturing during an earthquake and sending a sandy soup into the nearby Green Meadows Estates subdivision.

"We hope that the committee comes to the same conclusion as Kennecott," wrote company spokeswoman Gina Crezee in a letter to committee members last week, "that the [Green Meadows] Estates community is safe from tailings in the event of a significant seismic event."

- Jeremiah Stettler