SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Utah Moms for Clean Air announced Monday they are suing Rio Tinto for polluting the Salt Lake Valley air.
Dr. Brian Moench, from Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment says Utah Department of Air Quality data shows Kennecott, Rio Tinto is responsible for 30-percent of dangerous particulate air pollution in the Salt Lake Valley.
Dr. Moench says the goal is not to put Kennecott out of business, instead he says the two groups want to see Rio Tinto spend more money on alleviating air pollution. “They made profits of $15 billion dollars this year. They have more than enough money to put serious pollution mitigation measures in place, and they refuse to. We spent six months with them trying to negotiate with them, and we hit a brick wall.” He says it’s a public health issue that cannot be ignored. “Air pollution has the same sort of consequences of exposure to cigarette smoke. It’s just a little less intense. It causes low grade inflammation of the arterial system, and that affects every single organ system.” He says it can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
The groups are taking the mining company to court for violations of the Federal Clean Air Act. They claim that while Kennecott may be abiding by local permits it is failing to meet Federal standards. Dr. Moench says increased mining activity has led to increased pollution. “ The EPA must approve any increased activity on Rio Tinto’s part, and not only have they not approved it, they have specifically declined to approve it. Even though our DAQ has given them that permit the EPA has not signed off on it, and that makes it illegal."
Rio Tinto released a statement in response to the announcement by the environmental advocacy groups. They say claims they are in violation of the Clean Air Act are without merit. The statement says “Kennecott has and continues to operate within the parameters of its air permits and is consistently in compliance with U.S. EPA and Utah Division of Air Quality regulations, which are based on strict standards for protecting human health.”
