State to get funds from mining co. for cleanup
The bankruptcy of mining and smelting titan Asarco will provide $25.1 million for environmental cleanup at abandoned mining operations in Cherokee County, officials said Thursday.
The settlement money will not necessarily be used to buy out and move the remaining residents of the contaminated town of Treece. A movement is under way to do that at the state and federal levels.
The money is part of a $1.79 billion settlement to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental authorities. It represents the largest environmental bankruptcy in U.S. history, officials said.
Money recovered in the bankruptcy proceedings will be used for past and future cleanup costs at 80 contaminated properties in 19 states.
Officials with the EPA regional office in Kansas City, Kan., said the Asarco money allocated for Kansas will accelerate efforts to clean up contaminated ground and water in and around Treece, Baxter Springs, Waco and unincorporated areas of Cherokee County.
"The buyout of Treece is a separate funding issue," said Chris Whitley, spokesman for the EPA regional office.
In October, Congress passed legislation authorizing the EPA to spend the estimated $3 million to $3.5 million needed to buy out the remaining 100 or so residents of Treece.
Although the EPA has not made an official announcement, the process has begun to appoint a board of trustees to oversee a buyout, officials said.
State Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said he has submitted three names to be considered for the five-member panel. Other elected officials will also recommend candidates.
He said he expects confirmation hearings to be held by the state Senate early in the legislative session that starts next month.
Lead- and zinc-mining companies thrived in Treece from the late 1800s to the early 1970s. But when the ore ran out, they left the groundwater tainted with chemicals and the city surrounded by mammoth piles of contaminated waste gravel called "chat."
Treece is surrounded by abandoned, flooded mine shafts and cave-ins.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said buying out and relocating the residents is the preferred option to protect them from the environmental hazards.
The EPA has already bought out and shut down Picher, Okla., which borders Treece but was under the jurisdiction of a different EPA regional office.
Asarco, officially the American Smelting and Refining Co., is based in Tucson and is a leading national producer of copper and other non-ferrous metals.
The company, which owns both active and abandoned properties with environmental contamination, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2005.
The Asarco money going to the Cherokee County cleanup is the second-largest allocation in EPA's Region 7, which includes Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa, Whitley said.
Nebraska's Omaha Lead site will get $186.5 million from the Asarco funds, officials said.
Southwest Missouri sites benefiting from the bankruptcy settlement include the Jasper County/Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt, $21.4 million; and Newton County Mine Tailings, $11.5 million.
The other Region 7 sites receiving funds are all in southeast Missouri and include Big River Mine Tailings/St. Joe Minerals Corp., $17 million; Madison County Mines, $12.7 million; and Federal Mine Tailings, $7.7 million.
This story was originally published December 11, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "State to get funds from mining co. for cleanup."