DWR citing people for trespassing into well-known abandoned mine

UTAH COUNTY – It’s an extremely unsafe place, but, it’s an attractive site to too many people.  The Division of Wildlife Resources says they’ve tried to keep people out of the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill in Goshen, but their warnings are being ignored.  So, they’re going to citing people with fines.

There are “No Trespassing” signs outside of the mill, but, DWR officials say they proving to be useless.  Sergeant Sean Spencer says people have admitted they flat out ignore them so they can get cool pictures of the abandoned facility.

Spencer says there are several reasons why people should stay away.  Environmental officials say the levels of arsenic and lead are very high.  Plus, “The other reason is that the mill is old and falling down,” he adds.

It’s extremely hard for DWR officials to keep people away, since the site is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Spencer says there are even social media posts and travel websites encouraging people to visit.

“There’s a lot of misinformation online that people could go there and that it’s a free place to tag graffiti,” according to Spencer.  “There are people camping out overnight, up there.  They’re hanging hammocks up in this building that’s falling down.”

He also says people are doing drugs and committing lewd acts while inside.  Spencer hopes news about the citations will spread, quickly.  He says one man who was recently fined was furious, asking why he was never told about a possible citation.

“I said, ‘We did!  We put a sign up and it tells you to not go there.  You’ve chosen to ignore that, so, now I’m going to write you a ticket so that you go back and tell all your friends don’t go there, they’re writing tickets.’”

The Goshen District Court will decide how expensive the fines will be.  Plus, people caught on the site could be required to perform community service.