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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's mammoth, idle Great Salt Lake pumps could not be used to help drain flooded New Orleans, said Larry Anderson, director of the state Division of Water Resources.
"The actual pumps are encased in a massive concrete structure. Some portions even extend 50 feet below ground," he said.
The natural gas-operated pumps were installed in 1986 to pump water from the rising lake into the west desert to curtail flooding.
The flood period ended and the lake stopped rising shortly after the pumps were put into use.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
