Rio Tinto

[Hala401]

I'm almost afraid to bring this up.

I was just looking at an old news service that I really hadn't been to since my conversion to our church. I was looking at an article about the Rio Tino Mine that Kennecott owns, and is the supplier in the Olympics of all the metals used in their medals.

News such as this is very bad and I wonder how it will affect the economy of the SLC area, but to me the health of the people in the seems very important. It is, after all the headquarters of our church.

The Great Olympic Greenwash - People & Power - Al Jazeera English

[Just_A_Guy]

Because of topography in conjunction with the size of the local population, some degree of air pollution in Salt Lake Valley is pretty much inevitable.

That said, Kennecott isn't helping. I've not followed the lawsuit; but I understand that in some new real estate developments in the western part of the valley the homeowners are specifically warned not to garden in their own yards--the developments have community gardens with soil trucked in from elsewhere in the state. I think that's pretty revolting.

As I recall, a group of Chinese investors recently came and looked at the Kennecott mine because a similar enterprise was planned for their neck of the woods. Whatever they saw was enough to convince them to scratch the project.

[Hala401]

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

Because of topography in conjunction with the size of the local population, some degree of air pollution in Salt Lake Valley is pretty much inevitable.

That said, Kennecott isn't helping. I've not followed the lawsuit; but I understand that in some new real estate developments in the western part of the valley the homeowners are specifically warned not to garden in their own yards--the developments have community gardens with soil trucked in from elsewhere in the state. I think that's pretty revolting.

As I recall, a group of Chinese investors recently came and looked at the Kennecott mine because a similar enterprise was planned for their neck of the woods. Whatever they saw was enough to convince them to scratch the project.

It is troubling that CNN, and FOX did not carry anything about the problem. I do not know if the SLC stations did either. How can the news be that regulated in the US? I wonder if Aljazeera was carrying the story as a way to embarass the West?

I got this from Aljazeera, a Middle Eastern news service.

Doing some more digging, it looks like there is another Copper mine South of Tucson that has been there more than 50 years, and residents in Tucson have the same complaints about soil and air polution. The article I read said that less than 9% of area income comes from that mine

[annewandering]

Dont bother trusting any media. They all have agendas and none of them are telling us what is going on. If they do, its accidental. Go on facebook and ask the people. You will find out more of the truth. (and lots of opinions of those affected) lol

[pam]

This news is actually nothing new. Probably why you haven't seen anything. But word is the mine only has about 8 years of life left to it. I got that from someone that actually works at the Kennecott mine.

[Hala401]

Originally Posted by pam

This news is actually nothing new. Probably why you haven't seen anything. But word is the mine only has about 8 years of life left to it. I got that from someone that actually works at the Kennecott mine.

Um, did you know that "The Mailman", a Kevin Kostner movie was filmed there?

[Daybreak79]

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

I understand that in some new real estate developments in the western part of the valley the homeowners are specifically warned not to garden in their own yards--the developments have community gardens with soil trucked in from elsewhere in the state. I think that's pretty revolting.

That new real estate development in question would be Daybreak (which is being developed by Kennecott Land which is a division of RioTinto) and that rumor concerning gardening is completely FALSE!!!

I live in Daybreak, I have a garden and as long as we remember to water it we have no problems.

Our soil is not toxic. I don't have the the links handy but you can search the internet and find the EPA reports for the area and see that everything is on par. Sometimes I think the only people who have done research on the area are those who bought homes there. And to clear up another rumor, no you will not glow in the dark from swimming in the lake and no the fish in the lake are not toxic either.

The community does have community gardens and the soil most likely was brought in from elsewhere since they are raised garden beds. And if you stop to think about it most people do have soil from other areas because they use bags of garden soil or manure or other chemicals and minerals to make their soil better for growing vegetables instead of sagebrush.

[Daybreak79]

And while its fun for the media to pick on the easy target Kennecott because of its ties to the Olympics there are other polluters in the Salt Lake Valley that I am far more concerned about.

[Just_A_Guy]

Daybreak, thanks for the correction. I was out looking at properties in Daybreak back in February-ish, and the representative for one of the builders told me that they don't advise growing food anywhere but in the community gardens because of pollution from the mine.

[Daybreak79]

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

Daybreak, thanks for the correction. I was out looking at properties in Daybreak back in February-ish, and the representative for one of the builders told me that they don't advise growing food anywhere but in the community gardens because of pollution from the mine.

Just_A_Guy, out of curiosity which builder was it?