(Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Environmental Quality) For decades, highly reactive waste has been burned at the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant (NIROP) in West Valley City. This Google Earth image depicts the 17 burn pans in which up to 160,000 pounds of rocket propellant and other dangerous waste is burned each year with no emission controls. Environmental groups are asking Utah regulators to require defense contractor Northrop Grumman to dispose of this material in safer ways. The image is included in Northop's draft permit, now under review by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Brian Maffly has worked for The Tribune off and on since 1994. Maffly roams Utah, covering public land and environment.