By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com
WEBB CITY, Mo. — While it’s unlikely that the pit in King Jack Park will be needed by the EPA for dumping mine wastes, what is more likely to happen — and much sooner — is the redevelopment of other former mining land into an industrial park on Old Route 66 between Webb City and Carterville.
Mark Doolan, manager of the Jasper County Superfund Site for the Environmental Protection Agency, said workers so far have reclaimed 500 acres of scarred ground. That land was contaminated by lead and zinc mining nearly 100 years ago. That will increase to 1,000 acres by the end of the year as $10 million worth of reclamation work progresses.
The city of Webb City owns about 80 acres of the reclaimed land. Chuck Surface, Webb City’s economic development director, said the city would like to develop 58 acres into an industrial park.
The city shares with the city of Joplin an industrial park on the south side of Webb City. That industrial park is filling. The new industrial park would be the first that is solely for Webb City.
“If we can get approval from MoDOT (Missouri Department of Transportation), we’ll build a road in there to the industrial park from Highway 171, and the EPA will use mining waste to build it,” Surface said. “This would work well for the city, and it’s great for the EPA.”
As land around Webb City is reclaimed, Surface said, the city has started dreaming about the possibilities.
“It’s the feeling here of what we could do,” he said. “Here we are sitting with these properties that we have not been able to use for decades. We feel like the proper use of the property that has been remediated would be perfect for a transportation hub, a warehouse or an industrial park because we have a rail line there. That’s a big plus for that property. The MNA (Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad) is on board with it.”
Surface said it is unlikely that the city would see much in the way of property taxes from the industrial park because the taxes probably would be waived to lure a company.
“It’s not the tax base we’re concerned about,” he said. “It’s an infrastructure for jobs. It’s the jobs we want. Those jobs would help bring more things to Webb City.”
Surface said the industrial park would have one thing going for it: room for expansion.
“The city is breaking that old rule that says they’re not making any more land,” he said. “Well, we are in Webb City. This is new land for us that we did not have before.”
Doolan said the EPA has reclaimed the land with an eye toward future development of the site as an industrial park.
“It’s ready to go,” he said. “They can start developing it at any time.”
The new road to the industrial park would be an extension of Centennial Road on the north side of Highway 171.
Doolan said the EPA also secured approval from Webb City’s park board to fill in the pit in King Jack Park if it is needed for burying mine wastes. The plan was to build a hauling road to the pit.
But the EPA is almost done clearing and removing the mine wastes on the north side of Highway 171 between Webb City and Carterville. It’s apparent now that the pit in King Jack Park will not be needed for that, he said.
But the door on that project has not been completely closed. The pit still might be needed as a depository for the mine wastes that have yet to be cleared on the south side of Highway 171.
“It still might happen, but it is likely now that we’re not going to need it,” Doolan said.
Water quality
Mark Doolan, manager of the Jasper County Superfund Site for the EPA, said some residents fear that the EPA could accidentally cause contamination in Webb City if officials decide to fill in the pit in King Jack Park at some point in the future.
“Our trucks would be tarped. We would not be spreading waste all over city streets,” he said, noting that the EPA spent millions of dollars removing contaminated soil from residential yards in the Webb City area.
And filling in the pit would actually decrease groundwater contamination, Doolan said.
“When we have filled other pits, it has improved the quality of groundwater,” he said.
