EPA,
Interior, Army, to Work Together in Removing Health Risks at Tar
Creek, Oklahoma
The 40
square mile Tar Creek Superfund Site in northeastern Oklahoma
is part of the 1,188 square mile historic zinc and lead mines
known as the Tri-State Mining District in Missouri, Kansas, and
Oklahoma. The district's historic lead and zinc production ranks
as one of the highest in the world, with total ore production
estimated to have been slightly more the 0.5 billion short tons,
with production high during World War II. Mining began in the
early 1900's and continued until the 1960's. The by-products of
the mining operation were highly acidic mine water and large amounts
of discarded mine and mill tailings, discarded in chat piles or
settling ponds. The principle pollutants are lead, cadmium, and
zinc, and chat was freely used and placed throughout the area
by individuals and municipal and county agencies. There are approximately
30,000 people residing in the area, and most of the land on the
Tar Creek site is allotted Indian Land.
On May
1, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of the Interior
and the U.S. Department of the Army to develop and implement solutions
to the human health and environmental threats posed by the Tar
Creek site. The MOU gives the federal agencies the opportunity
to coordinate with the affected Indian tribes, the State of Oklahoma,
local communities, and other stakeholders in determining the most
effective manner for resolving the issues at this site.
At the
present time, the EPA is the only entity that has actually accomplished
results at the Tar Creek site. The EPA is directly responsible
for progress through its yard remediation, community education,
and blood lead testing programs. Approximately 1,780 residential
properties have been remediated. As a result, there has been a
50 percent decrease (24 percent to 12 percent) in the number of
children with blood lead levels equal to or greater than the 10ug/dL
standard set by the Center for Disease Control. This is a notable
and meaningful protection provided to the children, who we must
remember are most at risk. And, we fully expect to see an even
larger decrease when the county blood lead data is analyzed again
in the spring of 2004. EPA continues to be intricately involved
in the work being done to improve the health of the Tar Creek
residents.