Great salt lake’s toxic dust could cost utah up to $11 billion as health crisis looms

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is becoming a public health nightmare as its shrinking waters expose 800 square miles of toxic lakebed that’s now blowing dust across the state’s most populated areas. A new report from Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and the Utah Rivers Council warns that the state’s cautious approach to addressing this crisis could cost taxpayers between $3.4 billion and $11 billion over the next two decades.

The lake hit record-low levels in 2022, and while recent snowfall provided temporary relief, it remains dangerously close to ecological collapse. The exposed lakebed is generating dust storms that regularly sweep across the Wasatch Front, where most Utahns live. This isn’t ordinary dust – it potentially contains heavy metals, pesticides, and PFAS “forever chemicals” from the region’s history of mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. The report particularly warns about ultrafine particles smaller than 0.1 microns that can penetrate deep into human organs, including the brain and placenta.

The lake’s decline stems primarily from decades of unsustainable water consumption by cities, farms, and industries, with climate change accelerating the crisis through reduced snowpack and increased evaporation. While some scientists question the report’s most alarming claims, calling it “alarmist,” they agree on the core message: refilling the lake should be the priority over expensive dust mitigation measures. The alternative – managing the Great Salt Lake as a permanent pollution source – could trigger an exodus of Utah’s younger and wealthier residents while leaving taxpayers with astronomical cleanup costs.