The Nation : Great Salt Lake Rips Dike

The burgeoning Great Salt Lake, at its record high of 4,211.6 feet above sea level, burst an earthen dike and threatened to surge toward an interstate highway and Union Pacific Railroad tracks, Utah officials said. State Public Safety Director John Nielsen said the lake forced a breach in the 13-mile-long dike built about 50 miles west of Salt Lake City. But Francine Giani, an aide to Gov. Norman H. Bangerter, quoted experts as saying that a Union Pacific dike appeared strong enough to hold back the water. The lake has risen about 10 feet during the last four years, causing more than $175 million in property damage.