corey milne, gsl, requests increased salt ponds may 2009 to GSL: Pass the salt ponds Company seeks to double acreage on Great Salt Lake; environmentalists worry By CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN Standard-Examiner staff ctrentelman@standard.net OGDEN — Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. said Wednesday it has withdrawn its request to build saltwater evaporation ponds around 33,000 acres of the surface water of Great Salt Lake and submitted a new one for 75,000 acres. The company is filing a new application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build 31,000 acres of ponds where it wanted to build 33,000, and also to build 44,000 acres of ponds on two sites on the west side of Great Salt Lake and in the lake's northwest arm, said GSL spokesman Dave Hyams. The company uses evaporation ponds to produce a widely used fertilizer called sulfate of potash, other chemicals and salt. The company is working to improve the productivity of the ponds and manufacturing system it already has, as well as increase the size of its evaporation ponds. In a news release issued Wednesday, Corey Milne, site manager of Great Salt Lake Minerals, said, "America and the world must increase food production as populations rise over the next decades, which means farmers will need more all-natural fertilizers to replenish the soil's nutrients. "We produce a chemical-free, organic- Learn and comment Meetings are scheduled for: •5-8 p.m. June 4, Davis County Library, 725 S. Main St., Bountiful. ©5-8 p.m. June 9, Comfort Suites Hotel, 2250 S. 1200 West, Ogden. •5-8 p.m. June 11, West High School, 241 N. 300 West, Salt Lake City. approved nutrient using the sun as our primary energy source. Expanding our potash production contributes to the solution in an environmentally responsible manner." Utah environmentalists are concerned about the expansion because, when complete, as much as 10 percent of Great Salt Lake's surface will be un- GSL lease changes N Gunnison te/and |"-..,;5„,,.,.,. Existing \ "Railroad ponds (causeway Area returned I Fremont to the state Island^ Great Salt Lake ~) Antelope} Island Q Island buffers | Standard-Examiner cu ro o o o o -5 fD << CD GO (V c fD GO d- GO 3 o 1 fD CU GO <T> CL go Cu -a o Q_ CO