Red Lodge Clearinghouse

Supplies of drinking water for tens of thousands of people near Superfund sites in Utah have been at risk or polluted because of groundwater contamination.

The pollution is so hazardous that the federal government joined state regulators to direct long-term cleanup efforts in the sites in the Bountiful Woods Cross areas north of Salt Lake City.

Business owners who bought property in the affected areas, but were unaware of the Superfund sites beneath them, are expected to pay for removal of tainted soil and old polluting underground tanks. Federal funds are available for Superfund sites if they are active on U.S. EPA's National Priorities List, but some property owners must still pay.

Utah Division of Drinking Water director Ken Bousfield said last week that water suppliers in the affected area provide clean drinking water, based on the most recent tests, but he acknowledged that plumes of contaminated groundwater in those areas still pose a threat.

Two sites in the Woods Cross and Bountiful areas are active due to three plumes of polluted groundwater containing old chemicals from dry cleaners, automotive garages and other industries. The third location is an oil refinery site deemed "under control" by EPA in terms of risk for human exposure to chemicals (Stephen Speckman, Deseret Morning News, March 30).

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