Apr. 23--Kennecott Utah Copper's efforts to reclaim lands soiled by past mining practices and to reduce air pollution and fuel consumption received Earth Day recognition from two state agencies, which honored 14 Utah companies and organizations overall.

The plaudits came from the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining, which honored Kennecott's transformation of expansive evaporation ponds in South Jordan into the Daybreak community, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, which cited a company program that cuts down on the amount of time that vehicles -- from pickups to gigantic dump trucks -- sit with their engines idling.

Kennecott spokeswoman Jana Kettering said the no-idling program reduced company emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and other greenhouse gases by 59 percent. Daybreak is developing into 4,100 acres of resident and commercial development on lands that were mining evaporation ponds from 1936 to 1965, then were used for flood control through 1986.

"We began the Earth Day Award program in 1991 to recognize companies that go the extra mile in protecting the environment, while developing natural resources," said Oil, Gas and Mining Board Chairman Doug Johnson. Almost 100 companies have been honored since.

"These businesses serve as a model for all of us," echoed Bill Sinclair, Environmental Quality's acting leader. His agency and its affiliated Utah Pollution Prevention Association also singled out three other

groups:

Intermountain Healthcare -- The company developed multiple programs to reduce use of electricity, natural gas and water and generate less waste.

Autoliv -- The automobile safety manufacturer reuses vegetable oil from a nearby Malt-O-Meal plant to package waste materials at its Tremonton manufacturing facility.

Artspace -- The nonprofit group that bought the Utah Barrel and Scrap site in Salt Lake City removed tons of soil contaminated with lead and arsenic and developed work spaces for artists.

Environmental Quality officials also gave awards to Xanterra Bryce Canyon Lodge for glass recycling and waste reduction plans; Lorraine Press , Salt Lake City, for reducing solid waste by 50 percent; Swire Coca-Cola , Salt Lake City, for significantly reducing water consumption and implementing its anti-idling program; and Hexcel Corp. , for introducing energy efficient processes at its composite manufacturing plant in West Valley City.

The Board of Oil, Gas and Mining also honored:

Canyon Fuel Co. -- It did work at three of its Utah coal mines. Near the Dugout Canyon mine in Carbon County, the company improved a stream and ditch system to put water discharged from the mine to use for irrigation of 40 acres and improving wildlife habitat. Canyon Fuel's Skyline mine processed more than 147,000 tons of waste rock from a site near Scofield, salvaging enough coal from the pile to avoid the need for a second waste rock storage facility. And the company's Sufco mine in Sevier County restored sagebrush and improved wildlife habitat on 800 acres of U.S. Forest Service land.

Jones and DeMille Engineering, JP Excavating and Sevier County -- They worked to reclaim a quarry mined to repair damage caused by Sevier River flooding in 2005.

Simplot Phosphate -- The company altered its mine reclamation plans to help build two emergency runaway-truck ramps along State Route 191, 12 miles north of Vernal.

mikeg@sltrib.com

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