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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Collection system improvements were made through the years, culminating in the construction of the Large Bingham Creek Reservoir in 1965. The reservoir held storm waters as well as leach waters. Although the base of this reservoir was constructed of low-permeability soils, it nevertheless contributed contaminants to the local groundwater system. When Kennecott realized the seriousness of the groundwater problem, it constructed the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir to serve as the leach-water surge basin. The Small Bingham Creek Reservoir is a double-lined impoundment equipped with leak detection and groundwater monitoring systems. It was completed and placed in service in 1990 at a cost of $13.5 million. Utah issued a groundwater discharge permit for the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir in 1992. Once the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir was placed in service, Kennecott began the cleanup of the Large Bingham Creek Reservoir. This project consisted of removing over 3 million cubic yards of sludges, tailings, and contaminated soils; segmenting and reshaping the basin; installing a state-of-the-art lining system; and upgrading the water-handling systems. The excavation work has been completed, and the sludge and tailings have been relocated to the Bingham Canyon Mine waste-rock disposal areas. The acid-contaminated soils were treated with locally obtained soils with a high calcium carbonate content, and the neutralized soils are being reused for reclamation efforts. The relocation and reclamation activities have been married with a demonstration project examining approaches to final reclamation of waste-rock disposal areas. The Large Bingham Creek Reservoir has been divided into two major segments—zone 1 and zone 2—by construction of an intermediate dike. Zone 1 has been lined with compacted clay, a lower 60-mil high density polyethylene (HOPE) liner, a leak detection and collection layer, and an upper 80-mil HDPE liner. The liner system incorporates never-before-used electrically conductive layers for liner integrity inspection and
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