A: On a daily basis, Kennecott has dozens of scientists and engineers working solely on environmental projects aimed at improving air and water quality. Kennecott has state-of-the-art air and ground water monitoring and capture systems that surround the operations which are checked and maintained on a regular basis.

A: Beginning in the late 1980s, cleaning up the air, land and ground water from historic mining operations became a top priority. Kennecott improved air quality in Salt Lake Valley with the construction of our new, modernized Smelter in 1995, one of the cleanest in the world, which captures 99.9 percent of the SO2 emissions during the smelting process. Kennecott began improving water quality by constructing lined reservoirs with leak detection systems. We also built cut off walls (dams) in all drainages surrounding the mine to contain any water impacted by mining. In 2006, Kennecott completed construction of a reverse osmosis water treatment plant that now provides safe drinking water to local communities. The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District distributes this water at a reduced rate to these local communities. A second reverse osmosis plant is scheduled for completion in 2010.

A: Most Kennecott employees live in the Salt Lake Valley and keeping the local environment clean is important to us. As a company, we recognize that in order to be successful in business, we must be good stewards of the land and of our resources. Like workplace safety, environmental stewardship is good business.

A: As part of a proactive environmental cleanup, Kennecott made a public commitment to clean up historic mining wastes on our property, much of which pre-dated Kennecott’s interest in the area, and to improve groundwater quality impacted by historic mining operations. This major reclamation effort involved removing old facilities and contaminated soils, re-contouring and reseeding the land and returning it to viable post-mining use. To date, we have spent over $350 million on this cleanup effort which will continue into the future.

Kennecott has successfully re-vegetated approximately 95 percent of our older tailings impoundment, plus hundreds of acres of waste rock surrounding the mine. In fact, Kennecott has received numerous Earth Day Reclamation Awards from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining and several national awards for our reclamation efforts. One former mine-impacted area is now home to the Daybreak community, operated by our sister company Kennecott Land. There are plans for other similar communities over the next 50 - 75 years. Today, and in the future, we will continue to restore land that has been disturbed by mining activities.

A: Efficient use of natural resources and recycling are business practices that allow us to minimize our impact on the environment. Since water is a limited resource, storm water that contacts the mine or other operating areas is captured and diverted into the process system, offsetting the amount of freshwater that is needed. Kennecott is constantly recycling our process water. Additionally, by capturing waste heat from the smelting process, our Smelter co-generates 60 percent of its own electric power needs, which reduces energy consumption and improves air quality.