That was the message from Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi to the newly formed grass-roots committee overseeing an independent investigation into the safety of Kennecott's tailings impoundment, according to a taped recording obtained through open-records laws.

Here are a few excerpts from that conversation, in which the councilman urges the committee to meet with The Tribune's editorial board.

"It is going to be clear for the next while, this committee is going to be looked at under a microscope by The Tribune because they created the story," Horiuchi said. "They have ownership. What we don't want to do, frankly, is to be pulled along like a bone, or a dog tied to a bone. . . . That is how The Tribune is going to treat this committee and treat this issue."

Then came this warning:

"The fact of the matter: We are the enemy that is going to be harpooned and hammered. If this thing comes out and exonerates Kennecott, The Tribune could very well take it out on us."

Some on the committee already seem to hold the newspaper in low regard, as illustrated by this follow-up comment made by committee member Lex Watterson.

"The reporters that I have seen, they are not sufficiently motivated to try to comprehend this issue to the degree that we are trying to," he said. "They are young. They are not smart enough, in some cases, to comprehend it. No offense to them. The other thing is, they are too biased to understand that we are smart enough to understand it, probably smarter than they are, even if we live in Magna."

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