By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $20.5 million contract to clean up mine waste around Baxter Springs and Treece.
Encon International Inc., El Paso, Texas, will start the work beginning in November or December, said Debbie Kring, EPA spokeswoman. The start date will depend on the weather. She said the project will take three or four years.
The contract calls for the company to excavate 2.2 million cubic yards of surface mine waste covering approximately 386 acres. The excavated areas then would be regraded and planted with native, warm-season grasses.
The site is in the Kansas portion of the historic Tri-State Mining District, encompassing 2,500 square miles in Southeast Kansas, Northeast Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri. Lead and zinc mining in Kansas began in the 1870s and continued into the next century, leaving surface mine deposits throughout Cherokee County.
The EPA began cleanup work in Cherokee County in 1983, and many areas within the 115-square-mile site already have been addressed.
Kring said cleanup projects at Waco, Badger and Lawton are continuing in Cherokee County.
Elevated lead levels in the environment can pose threats to ecosystems and public health, especially for young children, pregnant women and the elderly, according to the EPA.
Online
More information about the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program is available at www.epa.gov/superfund/.
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New round of mine-waste cleanup slated in Baxter Springs, Treece area
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