3 ms·
I'm also from North of SLC. I once read that this area was originally called Smokey Valley by Native American tribes that roamed the area but who usually avoide
by codazoda 4y ago
I'm also from North of SLC. I once read that this area was originally called Smokey Valley by Native American tribes that roamed the area but who usually avoided the valley because of the smoke pollution. It has something to do with how air moves through the area protected by the mountains and the lake. That was before the industrial revolution. I'm sure that the quality of that smoke has degraded with the burning of fossil fuels, but it is interesting that the area has been known as the "smokey valley" for at least a couple hundred years.
- illumin8 4y agoSalt Lake County, Weber County, and Utah County all suffer from inversions during cold weather months, which is much of the winter. Inversions are where a layer of warm air traps cold, polluted air inside the valley and air pollution accumulates because it can't go anywhere. I grew up in Utah county and I remember the Geneva steel plant was a huge source of pollution. In my environmental studies class we calculated that on cold weather days when there was an inversion the amount of pollution each person breathed every day was equivalent to smoking 3 cigarettes. Even before internal combustion engines and modern industry the campfires alone must have given Utah valleys the reputation as "smokey valley" by the native Americans. This is not a new phenomenon - the geography of high mountains with lots of population causing pollution in the valleys causes it naturally.
- butlerm 4y agoGeneva Steel in Utah County was constructed for World War II steel production, but fortunately has been closed and its site remediated for a couple of decades now.