TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE

County: Ottawa
Site Type: Mining Activity
Area: 40 square miles / 25,600 acres
Township and Range: Section 16-21 and 29-32, Township 29 North, Range 24 East; Section 5-6, Township 28 North, Range 24 East; Section 5-8, 18-19, and 30, Township 28 North, Range 23 East; Section 13-36, Township 29 North, Range 23 East; Section 1, 12-13, 24-25, and 30, Township 28 North, Range 22 East; Section 24, 25, and 36, Township 29 North, Range 22 East
Latitude: 36.98591483
Longitude: -94.82934508
National Priorities List: Final Listing Date - September 8, 1983
Cleanup Oversight Agencies: USGS, DEQ, the Quapaw Tribe
Lead Agency: EPA
Office: DEQ, Land Protection Division, (405)702-5100
DEQ Site Project Manager: Dennis Datin, (405) 702-5125 and David Cates, (405) 702-5124
DEQ Press Contact: Skylar McElhaney, (405)702-7167
Current Status: Cleanup underway

Land Use Restrictions: Currently, there is a voluntary government buyout and relocation of residents within the Tar Creek Superfund Site area. The buyout is scheduled to be completed in spring 2010.

Regulatory Profile:
• Sources of Contamination: Lead and zinc ore, mining, milling and smelting activities,
• Contaminants of Concern: Lead, cadmium, and zinc
• Groundwater Impacted: Boone & Roubidoux Aquifers (Near Picher and Quapaw)
•Surface Water Impacted: Tar Creek, Neosho River, Spring River and Grand Lake

Site History & Background: Historically, lead and zinc mining in the Midwest was centered within the 2,500 square mile Tri-State area and the Old Lead Belt, which covers 110 square miles in southeastern Missouri. The Tar Creek Superfund Site is part of the Tri-State Mining District, which includes northeastern Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, and southwestern Missouri. The Tar Creek Site is in Oklahoma and includes the Old Picher Field lead and zinc mining area located in northeastern Ottawa County. The 40 square mile site consists of five major mining cities including Picher, Cardin, Quapaw, Commerce, and North Miami.
The first recorded mining occurred in the Old Lead Belt in 1742 and quickly expanded throughout the Tri-State area. Mining production increased significantly throughout the 1800s and lasted until 1970. Mining and milling of ore produced more than 500 million tons of wastes in the Tri-State area as well as 250 million tons of wastes in the Old Lead Belt. Two primary types of waste were produced from these mining processes. The first waste, also known as “chat,” is a fine gravel material produced from the dry separation of ore from rock. It ranges from about 1/4 to 5/8 inches in diameter and has many acceptable uses in transportation and construction projects. The second waste, known as “tailings,” is a product of wet ore separation. Tailings are much smaller at 0.008 inches in diameter and generally contain higher concentrations of heavy metals; therefore, tailings often pose a greater risk to human health and the environment.
Waste in the form of large chat and tailing piles, contaminated soils, surface water and ground water, are a source of exposure to the local and nearby citizens of the Tri-State area. Children are the most sensitive population for lead and heavy metal exposures. Prior to yard cleanups, a percentage of young children living within the five-city mining area were known to have very high blood lead levels, above the standard set by the Center for Disease Control.

Cleanup History: EPA currently has a pilot program created to clean and prepare the chat for safe reuse. This process includes washing the finer particles, “tailings,” out of the chat. The particles are then moved through man-made wells which lead back into the voids originally created by the mining. Chat has been sold for road building material and other various uses. There is still about 100 million tons of chat remaining in the Tri-State Mining District. Currently, the University of Oklahoma’s department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science has undertaken a project to bioremediate surface water from abandoned mines. This treatment process uses a series of ponds to naturally remove lead, zinc, cadmium and iron from the water, and then discharges it into a tributary of Tar Creek. EPA continuously works with local communities, public and private organizations and the states within the Tri-State area, to monitor the effects of remaining mine wastes and implement projects that promote better land, water and air quality.

Cleanup Status:
• Operable Unit 1: Surface Water/Ground water Status: 4th five-year review underway; currently monitoring ground water
• Operable Unit 2: Residential Properties Status: Community health education and blood lead screening for the five-city mining area; cleanup possibilities currently being considered
• Operable Unit 3: Drum removal in Cardin Status: Complete
• Operable Unit 4: Chat Piles, Other Mine and Mill Wastes, Smelter Wastes Status: Voluntary relocation efforts underway; chat pile removal; bids being considered for further cleanup of the site; regular meetings between EPA, DEQ, the Quapaw Tribe, Ottawa Tribe, Peoria Tribe, Miami Tribe, Wyandotte Tribe, Eastern Shawnee Tribe, Seneca-Cayuga Tribe and the Cherokee Tribe.
• Operable Unit 5: Sediment & Surface Water Status: Characterization of sediment and surface water throughout the Spring and Neosho River basins

Did You Know? The 50 million cubic yards of mine tailings left on the surface today represent about 1/3 the original tailings from mining at the site. The lead produced at Tar Creek was used to make bullets during both World Wars.

Completed Activities:

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Date Completed