US Magnesium LLC is a facility on the southwest shores of Great Salt Lake that began extracting magnesium from the Lake's brine in 1972. The facility has a fraught history of toxic releases to surrounding air, water, and communities. It was designated an EPA Superfund Site in 2009 but continued to operate until 2022.
For decades, FRIENDS has been working to hold US Magnesium accountable for its impacts to Great Salt Lake's ecosystem. Through a Technical Assistance Grant from the EPA, we hire a technical advisor to oversee the Superfund process at the site, which includes monitoring the hydrological and ecological happenings at the facility. We report these findings to the public and state and federal regulators to advocate for remediation and accountability.
In December 2024, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands notified US Magnesium that it was cancelling the company's mineral lease, followed by a cease and desist order in the summer of 2025 demanding that the company stop pumping water from Great Salt Lake. In response, the facility filed for bankruptcy for a second time, seeking to escape its legal and financial liabilities.
Determining how the mess will be cleaned up and by whom requires additional action and study of the US Magnesium Superfund Site by state and federal agencies.
FRIENDS has compiled decades of oversight into a new StoryMap to help our community understand and engage in this complex issue.
Click here to view the StoryMap full screen, or scroll through the embedded version below.
For more information, visit our US Magnesium webpage.
