Aragonite Hazardous Waste Incinerator

Utah

A mining town that lasted only a few years left open shafts and an abandoned truck in the desert, and Utah's first hazardous waste incinerator went up right next door.

historicalengineering

Aragonite was named for what came out of the ground there. The mineral aragonite. The mine ran for only a few years in the early twentieth century, and a mining guide from the nineteen fifties still described a small townsite. Nobody lives there now. The place is almost totally demolished. As of two thousand nine, the mineshafts were still open, a few bunkhouses were still standing, and an old truck sat where it had been left. The ground here carried traffic long before the miners. Aragonite sits along the Hastings Cutoff, the route nineteenth century pioneers took across the mountains. The low Grassy Mountains rise to the north. The Cedar Mountains lie to the southeast. West of here is the Utah Test and Training Range, and southwest of that, Dugway Proving Grounds. Just east of the old townsite, the desert has a newer tenant. A large hazardous waste incineration facility.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
an old mining town from the early 20th century that mined aragonite. This mine was only in operation for a few years but today [in 2009] the mineshafts are still open and a few bunkhouses remain, as well as an old truck.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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