The plant had been shut down since 2021 but continued to pump large amounts of water from the shrinking Great Salt Lake.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The smut and gypsum piles at US Magnesium, which has ceased operations at the magnesium plant on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake, is pictured on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.
Utah has successfully bid to seize control of the defunct US Magnesium plant, and it plans to donate the massive volume of water it evaporated each year to benefit the Great Salt Lake.
The company declared bankruptcy in September following years of insolvency, a catastrophic equipment failure in 2021 and after it fell short on an environmental cleanup contract with federal regulators. State…