Southeast Idaho's Phosphate Legacy

November 9, 2012 by susutah | 41 Comments

by Jeremiah Watt

Flipping through travel planners and vacation ads, southeast Idaho sounds much like the glorious west of old. A wild untarnished space, home to elk, moose, deer, and many other species of wildlife, with hundreds of miles of rivers and creeks, all bursting with wild native trout. It is. Or at least was.

Currently, it’s home to 17 Superfund sites, thanks to phosphate mining giants Simplot, Agrium, Monsanto and others. The phosphate here is primarily used as fertilizer and the herbicide RoundUp. 16,987 acres have been mined with an additional 7,340 acres slated for development. In addition 15,000 acres have been leased and 50,000 acres are identified as containing economically viable phosphate reserves. In total 2,500 square miles – an area larger than Rhode Island – have the potential to be permanently scarred or destroyed from the effects of phosphate mining. Ninety-five percent of this land belongs to you and I.

In addition to the visual scarring and permanent destruction of entire habitats the environmental degradation due to selenium poisoning (a direct result of current phosphate mining technology) is stark. More than 600 head of livestock have died, 160 miles of streams are poisoned and Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations are declining in impacted streams.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is working to protect southeast Idaho’s waters, wildlife, and wildlands. Highest on their list of streams to protect is the Blackfoot in the heart of southeast Idaho’s mining district. It and its ecosystem are facing immediate peril with the current onslaught of phosphate mining and environmental degradation.

The photos below provide a sense of the impacts to this area.

Remains of a sheep that died from selenium poisoning in the phosphate patch in southeast Idaho.

With an engine at each wheel, these massive trucks are moving earth 24 hours a day.

Image from Dry Valley Mine, a phosphate mine in SE Idaho and contributor to the Superfund sites and selenium poisoning in the area.

The phosphate giant Monsanto in SE Idaho.

The Blackfoot River Wildlife Managment Area, SE Idaho.

The Blackfoot River Wildlife Managment Area, SE Idaho.

Sheep graze in the shadow of phosphate scars in SE Idaho.

Basque sheepherders moving sheep along the Blackfoot River, SE Idaho.

Smoke from Monsanto’s phosphate processing plant mixes with the clouds above fields outside Soda Springs in SE Idaho.

A big mule in velvet just off the road in the Husky 1 lease area. This habitat will be completely removed and destined for Superfund status once mining begins.

Freshly bulldozed roads for exploratory drilling in the Husky 1 area of SE Idaho.

The future lies in the distance. The foreground is slated for mining within the next five years.

Recent death in the phosphate patch in SE Idaho.

Smoky Canyon Mine over the ridge in Afton, WY.

A bulldozer and the remnants of an ecosystem.

The water and its fish are hazardous to your health.

Tim Woodard takes a stance in Crow Creek, Idaho. What’s yours?

North Maybe Superfund site, one of the 17 and growing superfund sites in SE Idaho’s phosphate patch.

The following links offer further insight and information:

The Cleanest Line – excellent discussion worth following

Caribou Clean Water

Greater Yellowstone Coalition

Interactive Map of Phosphate Mining in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Huffington Post on birth defects associated with RoundUp

New York Times on setbacks in framing due to RoundUp

Jeremiah Watt is a professional photographer in Salt Lake City. See more of his work here. He is helping to sponsor the Wild and Scenic Film Festival at the University of Utah on November 15.

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