EPA plans to expand Jasper County superfund site
The EPA met with residents in Carthage, Missouri, Monday night to talk about their plan to expand the Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt National Priorities List Superfund Site boundary from a portion of Jasper County to include ALL of the county.
This will allow EPA to conduct the ongoing, long-term cleanup actions necessary to protect human health and the environment from risks posed by mine waste found throughout the county from historical lead and zinc mining activities in the area.
The EPA says the site is part of the Tri‐State Mining District where mining, milling, and smelting of lead and zinc ore began in the mid‐1800s and continued for more than 100 years.
The site consists of numerous mine waste areas spread across thousands of acres in western Jasper County, and part of northwest Newton County, Missouri.
Former mining and smelting operations contaminated soil, groundwater, and surface water sediments with lead, zinc, and cadmium. Million tons of surface mining wastes contaminated thousands of acres of the site.
Site-wide, nearly 25 million cubic yards of mining wastes have been remediated on over thousands of acres, over 2,000 residential yards have been remediated, and over 500 homes have been supplied with a clean, permanent source of drinking water.
Approximately 14 miles of intermittent stream tributary have been remediated across the Site in recent years.
The Jasper County Health Department also conducted blood lead testing during the event, as many citizens have concerns about the levels of contamination in their yards.
