The need for tighter oversight and less big industry in our communities
The Salt Lake Tribune published a very alarming investigative article on US Magnesium, a major industrial polluter located on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. The subject? Dangerous emissions — especially chlorine gas — that have caused illness, disrupted military operations, and drawn multiple complaints from Utah residents. Between 2021 and 2022, plumes of acrid, chemical-smelling mist were reported drifting from the plant, leading to headaches, nausea, and respiratory irritation among nearby workers and residents.
Despite the concerns and messages from residents, Utah’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) largely brushed off the complaints as simple “odor” issues for local health departments to handle.
The EPA later found that emissions control equipment had been offline more than 1,100 times between 2016 and 2022, leading to potentially illegal chlorine emissions. Something extra concerning about the entire operation is that US Magnesium is allowed to self-report its emissions.
US Magnesium’s “environmental manager” has shown hostility towards inquiries about the control equipment and environmental regulations, responding to an email from the EPA and BLM asking to be notified of conditions by attaching “a series of federal orders regarding the importance of the company’s magnesium production to domestic security, and signed off in Russian, “Поздравляю вас товарищи, вы снова победили промышленность США. Or in translation, “Congratulations, comrades, you have once again defeated U.S. industry.”
The plant is currently shut down and the EPA has paused enforcement efforts.
The Clean Air Act exists to protect us, but when violations go unchecked, it’s just words on paper. The EPA must act, and Utah regulators must stop deferring to polluters and start protecting residents. US Magnesium threatens both public health and our most precious natural resource, Great Salt Lake. The state should prioritize people and ecosystems over industry profits. Especially when leaders of the industry have displayed blatant disregard and contempt for their responsibility to protect their neighbors.