On behalf of FoGSL, Utah Waterfowl Association, Western Wildlife Conservancy, League of Women Voters of Utah, League of Women Voters of Salt Lake, National Audubon, Bridgerland Audubon, Utah Airboat Association, the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, comments were recently submitted to the Utah Water Quality Board concerning draft permit modifications to Great Salt Lake Minerals' (GSLM) UPDES Permit. The UPDES permit concerns discharges of the evaporation pond flushing system into Great Salt Lake.  Read the Comments from FoGSL. The Wasatch Audubon Society has submitted comments, as well.  Read Wasatch Audubon's Comments.

To harvest the brine, GSLM first pumps North Arm water into its western evaporation ponds to increase the salinity content by 1-2%. This heavier brine solution then travels via gravity in a 21-mile long trench from the western portion of the Lake to the Promontory Peninsula where it is then pumped into the Bear River evaporation ponds for the 2-3 year processing cycle needed to extract the various minerals. Water in the Bear River Bay is relatively fresh because of inflow from the Bear River (which constitutes 42% of the Lake's fresh water inflow). Because of this low salinity, Bear River Bay contains a vibrant and flourishing ecosystem that fosters a plethora of birds and plants, which, in turn, results in the Bay being the most heavily used portions of the Lake by hunters, air boaters and other recreationists.

With its current operation, GSLM processes 6 million tons of salts annually, removing 1.5 million tons for sale and dumping 4.5 million tons into Bear River Bay over the winter/spring months to free up room in the evaporation ponds for the next year's batch. The flushing is done by opening up voids in the dikes of several of GSLM's ponds and using Bear River Bay water to scour the ponds of the leftover salts. The discharge is presumed to be essentially solid brine residue, plus whatever pollutants might be added during the harvesting process.

GSLM has been flushing its ponds since 1997 and DWQ has exempted this flushing from a Clean Water Act permit since its inception. Although no specific information is available regarding the timing of the discharge, we do know that GSLM releases this waste sometime between October and March of each year.

Prior to this point, GSLM and the Utah Department of Water Quality (DWQ) have concluded that a permit is not required for this discharge, basing their assessment on EPA regulations that allow for the discharge of excess brine if that discharge occurs to the "same body of water" from which the water is taken. However, there are two problems with this position. First, even if the EPA regulations apply, a permit is required so that the process is open to public notice and comment. Second, we do not believe that the North Arm and Bear River Bay should be considered the "same body of water" for the purpose of applying these regulations because they are meaningfully distinct from each other. According to the permit, DWQ has taken the position that because the various portions of the Lake are "hydrologically connected," that the Lake should be considered a single body of water. Clearly, however, the North Arm and Bear River Bay are not hydrologically connected in any way.

One of the largest unknowns with this discharge is its possible impact on the ecosystem of Bear River Bay. A recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study shows an abnormally high level of mercury in North Arm brines. This high concentration of mercury is transported to Bear River Bay by GSLM and has been shown to be present in the company's Bear River Bay evaporation ponds. Anoxic conditions could exist within the salt wedge in the area of the discharge that fosters the conversion of the North Arm mercury into methyl mercury. The methyl mercury would then find its way into the food chain. Health advisories have been issued by the State for two of the duck species that inhabit the area immediately downstream of the flushing. Birds within Ogden Bay, also adjacent to that area, show the highest level of methyl mercury poisoning on the Lake. These observations strongly suggest that the flushing is having direct adverse effects on the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and the waterbirds it supports.

FRIENDS believes that the discharge permit should include monitoring measures that help increase our understanding about how this discharge may be impacting the open waters of Great Salt Lake and the wildlife using areas adjacent to the discharge outfall.