During inversions, JoAnn Seghini - then a young girl - has a metallic taste on the back of her tongue.
Seghini, now mayor, knows it was arsenic.
For Seghini, completion of the cleanup of the 446-acre Midvale slag site - on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list since 1991 and delisted just last month - signals a new day.
"For many years, we've been under the cloud of Superfund sites. We've seen home values reduced to $1 by the county assessor because of that," she said, adding that more than 700 homes were affected by wind-borne debris.
However, after years of negotiations among landowners, developers, the city and the EPA - plus extensive land restoration over the past 18 months - that chapter in Midvale's history appears to have ended.
In January 2005, the Texas office of ENTACT Inc. tackled the task of cleansing the 220 acres that make up the lower two-thirds of the Bingham Junction site.
ENTACT's $17 million purge included removing buildings, debris and junk; extracting highly contaminated wastes; regrading and compacting slag; covering slag with 18 inches of uncontaminated soil; monitoring air quality; and planting drought-resistant grasses to control erosion.
The cash came from the land's previous owners through a court settlement, said Seghini.
Now, development is under way - by California-based J.D. Mercer Co. - on Bingham Junction's upper 130 acres.
So what comes next for this rehabilitated ground?
Together, Bingham Junction and another project, known as Jordan Bluffs, make up 20 percent of Midvale's 6-square-mile land mass. Outside of these parcels, Midvale has very little developable land left.
Jordan Bluffs is on the former 530-acre Sharon Steel site directly south of the Midvale slag land. It hosted smelting and milling facilities that operated through the first half of the 20th century.
High levels of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals found there and on adjacent properties and in groundwater, landed the urban wasteland on the EPA's Superfund list. Those contaminants were removed during the 1990s.
After getting a clean bill of health in 1999, the Sharon Steel site was sold to a developer, who is working with Createrra Inc. - a company that specializes in redevelopment of brownfields, which are lands heavily contaminated with industrial pollutants.
Plans are in the works at that site for a walkable, residential community with several housing options and amenities.
Now, at adjoining Bingham Junction, Christopher Butte, the city's economic development specialist, expects the top one-third to "go vertical" by spring 2007.
Picture a scenic river walk along the Jordan River, a newly created lake, and a mix of residential, office and retail space. Some of the structures will be four to six stories high.
Butte expects buildings to sprout on Bingham Junction's recently cleansed lower portion sometime in 2008. The developer's purchase of that parcel is still pending.
City officials say they are excited about Bingham Junction's easy access to Interstate 15 and Interstate 215. It will also be on the cutting edge of mass transit - the Mid-Jordan light rail line, including a TRAX stop, is planned to run east to west through the site.
Recent efforts by U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson netted federal funding to build Bingham Junction Boulevard- a major roadway that will run north to south, at about 900 West, through Bingham Junction and Jordan Bluffs. It ultimately will connect to Sandy Parkway (about 8450 South).
On the north, Bingham Junction also will connect - through nearby Winchester Street (about 6400 South) and the new overpass at 5300 South - to Murray's new Intermountain Medical Center, slated to open at the end of 2007.
Officials pin high hopes on the rebirth of these once-forlorn industrial sites.
"It represents the future of Midvale and will help define the west side," Butte said.
Christine Richman agrees. As the city's community and economic development director for eight years, she worked closely with EPA officials and the former owner of the Midvale slag site.
"This is a very big deal for a number of reasons," said Richman, now a senior associate with Wikstrom Economic and Planning Consultants. She noted that before a major policy shift about 1997, the EPA's cleanup efforts generally amounted to land being fenced off to lie dormant.
She recalls that during her first week on the job, she dared to ask if the property could be redeveloped - and if so, as what?
The answer to that question has begun to unfold.
"I'm very excited - and will be even more excited when the first shop opens or the first homeowner moves in," Richman said.
"The true crowning achievement of the process we went through will be to make the land productive again."
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
What's next?
Monday, 11 a.m., 700 W. 7200 South. Bingham Junction ribbon-cutting celebrating the Environmental Protection Agency's declaration last month that the former Midvale slag site, designated a Superfund site in 1991, is now officially "clean."
Bingham Junction
U.S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. shut down the Midvale slag site in 1958.
351-acre development near I-15 and I-215
Mixed-use development to include retail, office space and housing
Transit-oriented development with future light-rail station
River walk planned along the Jordan River
70 acres of green space
Proposed lake with enhanced recreational opportunities
Fiber-optic infrastructure
Jordan Bluffs
Land formerly owned by Sharon Steel, which ceased operations by 1964, was declared a Superfund site in 1990, and was cleaned and capped. It was delisted in 1999.
Located immediately south of Bingham Junction
265-acre master-planned, mixed-use development
Close to I-15, I-215, future light-rail station
Fiber-optic infrastructure
Significant residential component
Town-center retail component
- Source: Midvale City
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