Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt Site

Newton County Mine Tailings Site

Jasper & Newton Counties, Missouri

Site History and Cleanup Activities

D. Mark Doolan

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Region 7

Site History

• Counties are part of the Tri-State Mining

District which covers 2,500 square miles in

Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma

• Lead and zinc mining occurred from 1850’s to 1970’s

• Over 200 million tons of crude ore produced

• Over 500 million tons of wastes left on site

Site Description

• Jasper County Site covers 270 sq. miles

– 10 million tons of wastes remain on 9,000 acres

• Newton County Site cover 300 sq. miles

– 3 million tons of wastes remain on 300 acres

• Heavy metals contamination identified above acceptable levels in– Mining wastes

– Soil

– Ground water

– Streams

Site Risks

• Studies found high percentage of children with elevated blood-lead levels from exposure to soil

• Lead and cadmium in private water wells above the EPA drinking water standards

• Metals in surface water streams above Federal water quality standards, stream life impaired

• Metals in site soils and mining wastes exceeding safe levels for animals

Cleanup Actions in

Jasper & Newton Counties

• Residential yard soil contamination removed at over

3,000 properties

• Installed over 200 miles of public water supply mains to

over 1,500 homes with contaminated private wells

• Replaced over 200 contaminated shallow wells with

new deep-aquifer wells

• Remediated 1,800 acres of mine waste and 4 miles of

streams in Jasper County

• Remediation of mine wastes in Newton County to start

Fall of 2013

Duenweg

Mine Waste Cleanup Action

• Excavate and dispose mine wastes in subsidence

pits, mine shafts, and above ground repositories

– Excavated mine wastes, contaminated soil, and sediments are disposed in pits and shafts, or above ground repositories, then covered with soil cap

– Excavated areas are re-contoured to promote proper drainage, then re-vegetated

Before filling

During filling

After filling and capping

Before cleanup

After cleanup

Before cleanup

After cleanup

Before cleanup

After cleanup

Before cleanup

After cleanup

Before cleanup

After cleanup

Jasper County Mine Waste

Cleanup Progress to Date

• Over 1,800 acres remediated

• Approximately 4 miles to tributary streams

restored

• Design completed on an additional 800 acres

• Approximately 7,000 acres of waste remain

• Assessment of perennial streams underway

Tri-State Watershed Studies

• Streams in the Spring River Basins flow through 3 states

and 4 Superfund sites

• Most streams within the basin exceed state and federal

water quality standards

• Stream sediment metals concentration exceed toxicity

values

• Mine waste source areas are undergoing cleanup, but

will require decades to complete.

Shoal C

reek

Lost Creek

Tar Creek

Spring River

Center Creek

Grove Creek

Short Creek

Elm Creek

Willow Creek

Hickory C

reek

Dry Branch

Little Lost Creek

Turkey Creek

Baynham Branch

Neosho River

Motley Branch

Shawnee Cr eek

Jones Creek

Bitter C

reek

Carver Br

anch

Cedar Creek

Lytle Creek

Jenkins Creek

Newtoni a Branch

Thurman Creek

Cow Creek

Beef Branch

Silver Creek

Willow Branch

Joplin Creek

Spring B

ranch

Brush Creek

Spring Creek

Garrett Creek

Douthit Branch

Humphreys Branch

Center Creek

Shoal C

reek

Shoal Creek

Neosho R

iver

Jenkin

s Creek

296

536

272

166

168

128

133

130

147

308

251

133426

514

456404

512520

505

447

463462

461

475

453

292

449 472386

407

137

619

339

151

126132

294

725

176

163

657

941

492

258353319

264

168

218200

680

213

312

2990

8900

9230

9360

5380

5330

7660

66806790

5630

7000

3650 4450

8620

3150

2800

4840

4890

3400

4660

4120

1230

1790

2640

1470

1660

8850

3830

1290

21900

Zinc in Surface Water

Shoal C

reek

Lost Creek

Tar Cr eek

Spring River

Center Creek

Grove Creek

Short Creek

Elm Creek

Willow Creek

Hickory C

reek

Dry Branch

Little Lost Creek

Turkey Creek

Baynham Branch

Neosho River

Motley Branch

Shawnee Cr eek

Jones Creek

Bitter C

reek

Carver Bra

nch

Cedar Creek

Lytle Creek

Jenkins Creek

Newt oni a Branch

Thurman Creek

Cow Creek

Beef Branch

Silver Creek

Willow Branch

Joplin Creek

Spring B

ranch

Brush Creek

Spring Creek

Garrett Creek

Douthit Branch

Humphreys Branch

Center Creek

Shoal C

reek

Shoal Creek

Neosho R

iver

Jenkins Creek

Zinc, Cadmium, Lead > Sediment Criteria

Tri-State Watershed Studies

• Data compilation (ongoing)

• Toxicity studies (completed)

• Risk assessment (completed)

• Modeling/monitoring (ongoing)

• Cleanup prioritization process/risk

management (at completion on modeling)

Questions