Oil, Gas and Mining board recognizes Compass Minerals for Great Salt Lake protection
Compass Minerals pumps brine through a series of ponds to harvest a variety of minerals including Sodium, Potassium, and Magnesium that are used for everyday activities like road deicing, water softener, and commercial fertilizers in Ogden on July 21, 2015.
Compass Minerals is a multinational company that employs over 350 full time employees and produces a number of products derived from the minerals found naturally in and around the Great Salt Lake in Ogden on July 21, 2015.
OGDEN — A minerals harvesting plant working on the shores of the Great Salt Lake has received a state “Earth Day Award” for its environmental efforts.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining board presented the award to Compass Minerals’ Ogden-based plant on Wednesday.
“Compass Minerals has done exceptional work and the Board wanted to recognize their efforts with a new category highlighting them,” said Mike Bradley, a reclamation specialist with the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, in a press release.
The Division of Oil, Gas and Mining board of directors presents the Earth Day Award each year to recognize companies, organizations or individuals that go beyond normal regulations to protect the environment while developing natural resources in the state.
Compass Minerals is taking efforts to line its evaporation ponds and prevent leakage. With improved ponds, the company will divert less brine from the Great Salt Lake, which is approaching a record-low.
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The project is still under construction, but Compass Minerals said it will lead to around 20 percent less water consumption from the lake.
“This project highlights the positive results you can achieve when a project of this magnitude is approached in such a manner,” said Joe Havasi, director of natural resources with Compass Minerals, in the press release. “This project was successful because of the collaborative efforts of our employees and stakeholder groups, and our healthy working relationships with state and federal regulatory agencies dedicated to keeping the Great Salt Lake ‘great.'”
Dropping lake levels have created land bridges to islands where migratory birds once safely nested away from coyotes, skunks, snakes and people.
Compass Minerals’ collaboration with environmental groups, state agencies and federal agencies led the company to restoring pond areas so they can also create useful bird habitat. The company will help create 30 isolated nesting areas for shorebirds, protecting them from predator access, Havasi said.
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Compass Minerals extracts minerals throughout North American and the United Kingdom. Its Ogden plant mines sulfate of potash and other minerals from the Great Salt Lake by evaporating brine. The minerals are mostly used for fertilizer and road salt. The company is in the process of expanding its operations by building more ponds on the west shore of the lake.
That expansion raised concerns among environmental stakeholders, but officials with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands said the expansion footprint has shrunk considerably.
The company’s collaborative efforts earned Compass the first “Best of the Best” award from the Oil, Gas and Mining board.
“Their willingness to listen and become engaged and receptive to the important ecosystem of international significance on the other side of their operations is admirable and worthy of such an honor,” Bradley said. “They have taken improving the environment to a new level.”
Other Utah companies receiving Earth Day Awards include Conoco Phillips, North American Mine Services, Inc., Canyon Fuel Company, LLC, Questar Pipeline Company and Ultradent Products.
Contact Reporter Leia Larsen at 801-625-4289 or llarsen@standard.net. Follow her on Facebook.com/leiaoutside or on Twitter @LeiaLarsen.
