While not the vindication that Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott wanted, a company-funded report released on the danger of Kennecott’s massive 5,700 acre tailings impoundment, north of Magna, Utah, says the tailings dam may fail, but will not destroy residential areas, as originally thought. In October, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that the tailings dam could fail in a major earthquake and move across State Road 201 – like a “violent and intense” flash flood – reaching more than twice the distance Kennecott predicted. “Really, the public-safety concern is the highway,” said Troy Meyer, lead engineer for Colorado-based Tetra Tech, the engineering firm conducting the safety evaluation.
See http://lakesuperiorminingnews.net/2010/01/12/report-kennecott-tailings-dam-still-public-safety-threat/.