By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — A draft plan outlining how to spend $2.6 million to restore wildlife to Cherokee County land and water damaged by decades of mining was presented Thursday to residents at a public meeting.
Few turned out for the meeting conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Baxter Springs Community Center.
The $2.6 million resulted from bankruptcy settlements with EaglePicher Industries and LTV Corp., two companies that had mining operations in Cherokee County in the past. It may not be all the money with which the agency will have to work.
“We expect more funds down the road” from other companies, said Mike LeValley, field supervisor with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alix vanGeel, with Industrial Economics Inc., which was contracted to prepare the plan for the federal agency, said the plan was divided into options for restoring the land and restoring the water. She said both have been damaged by lead, zinc and cadmium that was mined in Cherokee County.
She said the projects were prioritized based on the amount of area that could be restored for the amount of money available. For example, 470 to 600 acres of native prairies could be preserved for $2.6 million, which is the top priority for land projects. For the same amount, the agency could restore 350 to 430 acres of degraded land to warm-season grass habitat. That is a second priority.
The top priorities for waterways are: preserving 290 to 560 acres of high-quality river and stream banks; or preserving 470 to 640 acres of buffer around Empire Lake at Riverton.
Solutions for removing the mine waste from the land, or from Spring River, Empire Lake and other creeks by dredging them, are too costly, vanGeel said.
“It is, of course, a hugely expensive alternative,” she said of dredging.
John Miesner, contaminants specialist with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Manhattan, said the Environmental Protection Agency, as part of the Cherokee County Superfund area, is still focusing on cleaning up the land, but after it has cleaned up the land, it will do the waterways.
Baxter Springs resident Dean Auman said before the meeting that people have been talking about dredging Empire Lake for many years.
“I was telling him (Miesner) that would really be an economic boon to the area” from the renewal of fishing and water recreation, Auman said.
Auman said it may not happen in his lifetime, but his wife, Beth Auman, said their grandchildren may benefit from it.
Miesner, LeValley and vanGeel each said that all of the projects would depend on the willingness of landowners to sell property or easements to property for the projects. For that reason, vanGeel said, one type of project may occur in one area, while another priority may be pursued in another area.
Dustin Stacey, who said he lives in the Baxter Springs and Riverton area, asked if the plan addresses agricultural pollution.
Because the money, vanGeel said, is to repair damage done by mining, agricultural pollution isn’t a target of the plan. She said, however, that projects to restore the land or water because of mine waste also would address land and water polluted by agriculture.
The final plan is expected to be approved by the end of the year, after which the agency will begin selecting and implementing projects.
LeValley said in answer to a resident’s question that there is no start date or completion date of the plan. He said that after more settlements are reached with former mining companies, other priorities would be pursued.
“It’s probably indefinite,” LeValley said. “It’ll just be ongoing.”
Comment period
The draft plan is online at http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/nrda/CherokeeCounty.htm.
Residents may mail comments about the plan to: Cherokee County Restoration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Kansas Field Office, 2609 Anderson Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502; or e-mail CherokeeCountyRestoration@fws.gov. The public comment period closes Aug. 25.
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