Harmful dust from Great Salt Lake disproportionately affects minority populatoins, study finds

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Wind-swept dust from the exposed lakebed of the Great Salt Lake disproportionately affects minority communities in Salt Lake City, new research from the University of Utah shows.

Published last month, the findings revealed exposure to the harmful dust is highest among Pacific Islander and Hispanic Utahns while lowest among white Utahns. Exposure was also higher among those without a high school diploma.

The reason for this, researchers found, is because the airborne dust is more likely to fall along Salt Lake City’s lower-income neighborhoods, especially if drought and water usage lead to increased shrinking of the Great Salt Lake and more exposed lakebed.

“People here in Utah are concerned about the lake for a variety of reasons—the ski industry, the brine shrimp, the migratory birds, recreation—and this study adds environmental justice and the equity implications of the drying lake to the conversation,” said lead author Sara Grineski, a professor of sociology and environmental studies, in a news release.

Using data from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality ’s air-monitoring network, the study modeled how particulate pollution during wind storms could impact communities along the Wasatch Front, adjusting for different lake levels.

Should Great Salt Lake water levels drop considerably (or completely dry up), it would increase pollution disparities currently present along the Wasatch Front, the research showed. On the other hand, if lake levels rise, it would narrow the pollution exposure gap between minority communities and white Utahns.

“So if we can take better care of the lake, the dust for everyone goes down and the gap in exposure between these groups goes down too,” Grineski said.

As of Tuesday, the South Arm of the Great Salt Lake was at 4,194 above sea level, roughly 6 feet above the nadir recorded in late 2022, when there was widespread concern about the terminal lake’s possible collapse. Since then, back-to-back wet winters have led to a substantial increase in lake levels and filled up many of Utah’s reservoirs.

Still, Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said in April that it’ll likely be years before the lake reaches a point where it could be considered ecologically healthy. Until then, several state agencies are working to better study the lake and get more water flowing into it.

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