By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

PICHER, Okla. — Gary Blackburn fielded an array of questions Monday night at a second public hearing related to the buyout of Treece, Kan.

Blackburn, director of the Bureau of Environmental Remediation for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the crowd of about 70 at Picher City Hall that Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson last week nominated five people to serve on the trust for the Treece buyout, but members must be confirmed by the Kansas Senate before they begin their work.

“Once they’re confirmed, we’re going to sit down and start working with them on the actual relocation plan,” Blackburn said. He said he hopes that offers can be made to home and other property owners this summer.

“My sense is they’re going to take this seriously and work quickly,” Blackburn said.

Treece residents are seeking a federal buyout like the one the residents of Picher received, without the problems Picher residents had. Both towns are contaminated with decades of waste from lead and zinc mining. They are located in the former Tri-State Mining District, a large EPA Superfund site.

The meeting was presented by the KDHE, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s regions 6 and 7. The first meeting, on Jan. 28, drew about 90 people.

Appeals possible?

Beverly Box, a former Treece city clerk, asked if residents would be allowed to challenge an offer if they didn’t like it.

“Within reason, yeah,” Blackburn said. “In the statute, basically the decision of the trust is final.”

He said properties would be appraised by two or three appraisers before an offer is made.

“There’s not a lot of extra money there,” Blackburn said. “There’s going to be some negotiations, but I don’t know there’s going to be a formal appeal.”

The EPA has allocated $3.5 million for the buyout, and the state of Kansas is being required to provide $350,000, or 10 percent, of the total. Kansas state Rep. Doug Gatewood, of Columbus, said last month that it likely would be April before the Legislature gives final approval for the money.

Resident Bert Mains asked if residents will have to remain in their houses until they receive their money.

Blackburn said that presumably, anyone who is living in Treece now and who moves out of his house before the buyout takes place will be made an offer and bought out. He said a critical date is March 13, 2006, the date the Treece City Council approved a resolution seeking a buyout. He said everyone living there on that date would be given priority in a buyout.

“All the people that want bought out, we want to move out,” Blackburn said. “We want to give you guys the best deal we can.”

Mayor Bill Blunk asked if there is any limit to the distance he could move his mobile home. Blackburn said the cost will be the limiting factor.

“I would suggest you remain within the continental United States,” Blackburn said to laughter from the group.

Voluntary buyout

Blackburn also stressed that the buyout is voluntary.

“We don’t want this to be a ‘you-have-to-go-or-else’ type of thing,” he said.

Subsequent discussion determined that the town’s sewer system probably wouldn’t continue to operate after a buyout, and the only option for water would be to join a rural water district. Resident Gilbert Bridendolph said near the end of the meeting that it might as well be a forced buyout.

Blackburn said residents would have an opportunity to participate in meetings with trustees after they formally start their work.

Those named by the governor to the trust are Pittsburg businessman Gene Bicknell, Columbus businessman Jim Dahmen, former Cherokee County Commissioners John Delmont Jr. and Eddie Hamilton, and former Cherokee County Treasurer Betty McBride.

Blunk, the Treece mayor, said after the meeting that he was encouraged that proposed members of the trust have been named. He said the meeting was important.

“I believe the citizens of Treece put out some important issues,” he said.

Resident Jan Leatherman, a retiree, said after the meeting that she is troubled about the idea, and the cost, of moving.

“It just unnerves me,” Leatherman said. “I guess it kind of scares me a little.”

Yet she said she is looking forward to the start of the buyout.

“I’ll be glad when the whole thing is all over,” she said. “It’s hard to wait and wait.”





Comments

Treece resident may submit written comments related to the buyout plan until Monday, March 15. They should be sent to Janetta Coats, Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA Region 6 (SF-VO), 1445 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75202-2733.