By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

About 240 acres of former mining land in the western part of Jasper County will be cleaned up by Doe Run Co., the Environmental Task Force of Jasper and Newton Counties learned Wednesday.

John E. Carter, representing Doe Run, told the task force that a consent agreement for cleaning up the sites has been reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

One of the sites is the former Snapp Mine north of Joplin. It involves about 80 acres. Two other sites west of Joplin involve 40 and 120 acres. Carter said the cleanup will cost between $2.5 million and $3 million at each site. Mining waste will be dumped into existing mine openings and collapsed areas.

Carter said work could begin next spring and should take two years to complete. He said the company will seek bids from local and national contractors. He said he hopes a local contractor with experience in the cleanup of mined land will get the contract.

The task force, which met Wednesday afternoon at Joplin City Hall, will receive a copy of the work plan before the projects start.

Carter said Doe Run did not do the mining. The mining was done in 1924 by Kansas Exploration Co., which became part of St. Joe Lead Co. Doe Run was formed when St. Joe merged with Homestake Lead Co.

Kansas Exploration Co. also has been connected to a mining site in Cherokee County, Kan., Carter said.

Doe Run mines the Viburnum Trend in eastern Missouri. The company is the largest producer of lead in North America. It employs 2,000 people.

In other business, Bob Kulp, head of the Newton County Health Department, said watershed plans are being developed for Spring River and the lower portion of Shoal Creek. A video depicting watershed management practices is to be produced for educational purposes.

The task force talked about the possibility of creating a local program that would collect prescription drugs and other pharmaceuticals that might otherwise become part of the wastewater stream and end up in local waterways. The drugs would be collected for incineration with cooperation by law enforcement.

New officers

The task force elected Robert Nichols, a Webb City resident, as president. Bob Kulp, director of the Newton County Health Department, was elected vice president. Dan Pekarek, head of the Joplin Health Department, was named secretary.