Caribou Clean Water Partnership

A TOXIC LEGACY

Hidden away in Caribou Country is the toxic legacy of phosphate mining. Selenium pollution from mining is contaminating the Salt and Blackfoot rivers from three operating phosphate mines and as many as 28 closed mines. Fifteen mines pose such immediate and severe threats that they have been named “Superfund” sites by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A Superfund site is land that is so contaminated by hazardous substance that it poses an imminent risk to human health or the environment.

Three companies, Monsanto, Simplot, and Agrium, produce nearly 6 million tons of phosphate ore annually at three open pit mines in Caribou Country. The phosphate mines are predominantly located on National Forest and Bureau of Land Management ground, land that belongs to all of us.

WHAT IS PHOSPHATE?

Phosphate is a general term that describes naturally occurring rock containing a high concentration of phosphate minerals. The term refers to both unprocessed phosphate ores and concentrated products. The higher the phosphate content, the greater the economic potential of the rock. More than 95 percent of the phosphate rock ore mined in the United States is used to manufacture artificial fertilizers, herbicides and animal feed supplements.

The United States contains a relatively small portion (seven percent) of global phosphate ore reserves. Phosphate mining is a global industry that is not dependent upon the limited reserves in special places like Caribou Country.

Phosphate mining companies are currently looking at large ore reserves in Africa and China as a more cost-effective source for ore production.

HARM KNOWN FOR DECADES

1982 SMOKY CANYON MINE STUDY
In an environmental impact statement prepared in 1982 for Simplot's Smoky Canyon Mine, the impact of selenium is documented as a clear risk of mining on the surrounding environment. Yet the mining companies claim that there was no knowledge of the potential harm of selenium to the water quality until 1996. This false claim is similar to tobacco companies claiming they never knew smoking was harmful.

The history of a connection between selenium and phosphate mining is well documented. Any denial by these companies is an attempt to evade their responsibility to clean up the very harmful problem they have created.