Huntsman said the problems at Kennecott - where the company concealed the risk of a breach in its massive tailings pond that could have flooded the nearby neighborhoods in a large earthquake - predated his administration by nearly 20 years and it is unclear what can be done now to address it.
Huntsman, speaking at his monthly KUED news conference, said the state engineer is involved and "is making sure that safety is first and foremost."
"From what I have heard, Kennecott embarked 20 years ago on a 30-year program for remediation, so we're 20 years into a 30-year program and I think they're doing what any corporate citizen ought to be doing, which is to engage in conversations with people potentially impacted and dealing with it at the local level," he said.
On Thursday, the company met with residents to answer their questions and try to ease their anger and mistrust toward a company that, at one point, used an undisclosed agent to buy homes in the danger zone and put a dollar-value on the lives of people who might be killed if the tailings pond were breached. An internal company investigation also said the state engineer, whose office oversees tailings impoundments, agreed to keep secret the documents that might have tipped off the public about the instability.
Huntsman said that typically the documents relating to dams and similar structures are available to the public.
"All the records are in the state office where people can see if they have concerns about a dam or a structure in their neighborhood. They can be proactive in looking up or reading about the information," he said.
Based on The Salt Lake Tribune's comprehensive review of public files on the project, state files at three agencies contain just two of at least 18 technical reports that the company commissioned on the old impoundment in the past 20 years. Another is mentioned as a reference in a report at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office.
For comparison, the company detailed its assumptions and design plans for the new impoundment, just north of the now-inactive old one, in 21 thick volumes.
Kennecott said Thursday it would pay for an independent study of the old tailings pond, which was first put into use in the early 1900s to allow water to evaporate off mine waste from Kennecott's copper production. It says that, while it will take another decade before the old impoundment meets the state's minimum safety standards, the impoundment would not flood nearby homes as previously feared but only ooze onto State Route 201.
"Suffice it to say, transparency is a good thing. Communication, alerting citizens who might be vulnerable, are always good things," Huntsman said. "We're just there to ensure the safety of citizens and what is going on is done in compliance with state code."
gehrke@sltrib.com
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* JUDY FAHYS contributed to this article.
