New EPA Grant Accelerates Quapaw Tribe's Tar Creek Superfund Clean-Up

QUAPAW, Okla. – No group of people was hurt worse by the environmental tragedy of Tar Creek than the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. And until now no group has done more to clean up the mess left behind from decades of lead and zinc mining. Recent events have greatly accelerated the clean-up process and delivered a realization, for the first time, that this 40-square-miles of devastation can be restored and put to good use.

"Generations of Quapaw people and other tribes in this region have suffered under the burden of the Tar Creek Superfund site," said Quapaw Chairman John Berrey. "We are the biggest stakeholders in what happens here. So it's fitting, I think, that we are leading the way in finally getting this historic mess cleaned up."

The Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the Tribe's Environmental Department its largest remediation grant to date, and the Quapaw's construction, roads and environmental services division is jumping on this important work and jump-starting the local economy along with it.

Chris Roper, Director of the Quapaw Services Authority, which operates the clean-up projects, said QSA now has 30 full-time employees all hired from the local area.

"And we have another 30 contract dump truck drivers who will stay busy all winter when they are normally very short on work," Roper said. "This is a huge boost to the region's economy especially around the town of Quapaw."

The new EPA grant is for an area known as Distal 13, about a 100 acre site with some particularly complicated hazards. "There are numerous mine shafts and vent shafts, and highly concentrated mining waste, " Environmental Director Tim Kent said. "It will take about a year to complete."

The Distal 13 grant is worth $9.5 million. The largest previous Quapaw/EPA grant was for a 40-acre site known as the Catholic 40 site, worth $2.4 million. The Tribe has been awarded 5 EPA clean-up grants at Tar Creek, and the state of Oklahoma has awarded two clean-up grants.  The grants have led to remediation work in 11 different areas of Tar Creek, with a total worth more than $13 million.

"We are proud of what we're doing at Tar Creek," Chairman Berrey said. "We can make this land useable again, and beautiful again. I don't have words to describe how passionate we are about it, and how grateful we are to have the opportunity to make things right here."

A Wikipedia page tells the history of the Tri-State mining district:

The area now known as Tar Creek is part of the Tri-State mining district, an area of 1,188 square miles located in Ottawa County, Oklahoma; Southwestern Missouri, and Southeastern Kansas. The first mining activities took place in Missouri around 1850. By 1908, sites had been started in Miami, Picher, and Commerce. The construction of railroads in the area stimulated production, increasing access to markets. Mining quickly had a high economic impact, and by 1924 most of the young, American-born whites in the district were employed by the mining industry.[3] The Quapaw tended to be excluded by discrimination in the industry.

When mining began in the area, most of the land was owned by the federally recognized Quapaw tribe. An 1897 court ruling and subsequent lawsuits determined mining companies could exploit resources on leased Quapaw lands, but only about one sixth of Quapaw landowners were allowed to collect royalties. Between 1915 and 1930, decreasing demand and production caused companies to buy the land rather than lease it, which encouraged high consolidation of mining companies.[3]

During World War I, the region supplied 45 percent of the lead and 50 percent of the zinc used by the U.S. Advances in technology resulted in increases in production. 1926 was the highest year of production in the area, and Ottawa County became the world's largest source of lead and zinc. Between 1908 and 1950, the entire Tri-State Mining Region generated over an estimated 1 billion U.S. dollars. After 1950, many of the mines were shut down, largely due to findings about their adverse environmental impacts on soil, groundwater and air.[3]

More information and resources about the Tar Creek Superfund site:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Creek_Superfund_site
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,612395,00.html
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/creekrunsred/film.html
http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0601269