Kudos for Kennecott

Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation is deserving of a kudo or two.

Over a 14-year period, the copper giant has voluntarily spent some $400 million to clean up groundwater contamination and other pollution problems in southwest Salt Lake County. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn a 1994 proposal to place Kennecott's so-called South Zone Site on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites.

Typically, large corporate polluters wait to be forced to clean up their messes. It usually results in millions being spent on litigation and years of delays before things get done. In this instance, though, Kennecott and the EPA took a unique, cooperative approach. They worked together to address the impact of more than 140 years of aggressive mining on communities such as West Jordan, South Jordan, Riverton, Herriman and Copperton. In the end it is estimated they accomplished the cleanup for about 40-percent less than what it would have cost had they approached it in typical adversarial fashion.

In KSL's view, other corporate polluters could learn a lesson from what Kennecott and the EPA have accomplished. Indeed, an attitude of neighborliness along with a genuine sense of corporate responsibility can go a long way toward solving perplexing environmental concerns.