Tribal-led Cleanup Activities at the Tar Creek Superfund Site

TRIBAL-LED CLEANUP ACTIVITIES AT
THE TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE
Craig Kreman
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
2015 Tribal Lands & Environment Forum
August 17-20, 2015
HIGHLIGHTS
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Quapaw History
Tri-State Mining District
Tar Creek Superfund Site
Tribe’s Initial Involvement at Site
Tribal-led Remedial Action Activities
Future Work at Site
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QUAPAW HISTORY
 Dhegihan Sioux
 Same Siouan linguistic
family as Ponca, Osage,
Omaha and Kansa tribes.
 Early 1600s: Started
moving downstream
(Mississippi) to present
day Arkansas
 “Downstream” People
Dancers from 2015 Quapaw Powwow
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QUAPAW HISTORY
~48,000 acres
30,000,000 + acres
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TRI-STATE MINING DISTRICT
 Began mining the area
during the late 1800’s,
lasted until approximately
1970
 Mining and milling of ore
(primarily lead and zinc)
produced more than 500
million tons of waste in area
 Two primary types of
wastes from mining
processes: chat (coarse
tailings) and fine tailings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ls3NdTKSHs
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TRI-STATE MINING DISTRICT
BY THE NUMBERS
 230 ore mills built in the Picher
Mining Field by 1918.
 181,000,000 tons of crude ore
mined in Ottawa County.
 8,880,000 tons of Zinc
concentrate produced.
 1,690,000 tons of Lead
concentrate produced.
 13,000,000 gallons pumped per
day to dewater the mines.
 ~32,000,000,000 gallons of
water fill the mines today.
 26,000 acres contained within
Superfund Site boundary (OU4).
 ~ 2,800 residential yards
remediated since 1996 (OU2).
 ~40,000,000+ tons of chat
remain at the Site.
 1,064 mine shafts and
subsidence features mapped.
 678 residential properties
eligible for relocation buyout
(OU2).
 $170,000,000+ cost over next 40
years for chat remedy.
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TRI-STATE MINING DISTRICT
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TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE
 Environmental problems
began showing up in 1979
with the advent of acid
mine drainage from the
underground mines
flowing into Tar Creek
through abandoned mine
shafts and boreholes
 1980 Tar Creek Task Force
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TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE
 Designated as a Superfund
Site in 1983, following the
establishment of Hazard
Rank System and National
Priorities List in 1981 and
1982, respectively under the
Comprehensive
Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability
Act (CERCLA).
 Four Main Objects of
Remediation
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TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE
 Operable Units
 OU1 – Surface
Water/Groundwater
 OU2 – Residential
Properties
 OU4 – Chat Piles, Other
Mine and Mill Wastes,
Smelter Wastes
 OU5 – Sediment and
Surface Water
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TAR CREEK SUPERFUND SITE
Operable Unit No. 4, Distal Areas
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INITIAL INVOLVMENT AT TAR CREEK
 Through the EPA Region 6 General Assistance Program
(GAP), the Quapaw Tribe Environmental Office was
established on October 1, 1997.
 In June of 1998, the Quapaw Tribe Chairman and the EPA
Region 6 Administrator signed a Tribal Environmental
Agreement, which established a formal agreement
between the Tribe and EPA to address the issues raised
regarding the environmental protection of lands within the
Quapaw Tribe’s jurisdictional lands.
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INITIAL INVOLVMENT AT TAR CREEK
 Currently, the Quapaw Tribe is administering an EPA
Superfund management assistance grant under an existing
Superfund support agency cooperative agreement.
 The tribe entered into this support agency cooperative
agreement with EPA in 2001.
 This management assistance grant has enabled the tribe to
have “meaningful and substantial involvement” in the
decisions related to the development and implementation
of remedial activities.
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INITIAL INVOLVMENT AT TAR CREEK
 Working together with EPA and other stakeholders on Tar
Creek issues over the past 12 years has enabled the
Quapaw Tribe Environmental Office to develop the
technical capacity required to administer a remedial
response cooperative agreement.
 Consequently, in 2013, the Tribe negotiated a remedial
response cooperative agreement with EPA Region 6 to
self-perform the remediation of an historic and culturally
significant tribal property know to the Quapaw as the
“Catholic 40.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kajj-2ntc3c&list=PLix7oxf6liugOc7EeMEYPPLvdMWG0Txbm&index=59
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INITIAL INVOLVMENT AT TAR CREEK
 Cooperative Agreement for Remedial Action signed
between EPA and the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma was
the first-ever Remedial Action in the nation
conducted by a tribe on property that they own.
 On-the-ground remedial activities would be
completed by Quapaw Tribe’s construction division,
Quapaw Services Authority (QSA).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kajj-2ntc3c&list=PLix7oxf6liugOc7EeMEYPPLvdMWG0Txbm&index=59
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
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SE Distal Zone, Distal 8
“Catholic 40”
Tribal Trust Land
40-acre parcel owned by the
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma and was
set aside in 1892 to the Catholic
Church for religious and education
purposes. In that same year, St.
Mary’s of the Quapaw, a Catholic
Church, a cemetery, and a boarding
school was established.
 St. Mary’s operated up until 1927,
following abandonment, the church
leased the property for mining in
1937.
 In 1975, the Catholic Church deeded
the property back to the Quapaw
Tribe of Oklahoma.
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
 The Quapaw Tribe
Environmental Office, retained
the services of a consulting
engineering firm to assist in
generating plans and
specifications, and other preconstruction documents.
 Remedial Action began in
December 2013 and involved:
excavation, hauling, and
disposal of approximately
107,000 tons of source material
(chat).
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
 Transition Zone (TZ)
Sampling and Analysis
 5 aliquots from each grid
homogenized into one
sample sent to lab for
analyses (0-6 and 6-12 inch
sample depths)
 Analyses included Tar Creek
Contaminants of Concern:
Cadmium, Lead, and Zinc
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
CATHOLIC 40
 Soil Amendments to TZ soils to potentially reduce
Bioavailability of Metals
 Agricultural Lime
 Chicken Litter, and
 Mushroom Compost
 Native Grass Seeding
 Fescue
 Rye
 Bermuda
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
DISTAL 6a
 SE Distal Zone, Distal 6a
 Unrestricted Property
 State-led project, with the
request that the Tribe do
the remediation work as the
“contractor” through an
intra-agency agreement.
 Adjacent to “Catholic 40”
property
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
DISTAL 6a
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
DISTAL 6a
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
DISTAL 6a
 Remedial Action began in
June 2014 and involved:
excavation, hauling, and
disposal of approximately
82,000 tons of source
material (chat).
 The source material was
disposed of in a large
collapsed feature on the
north end of the Tar Creek
Site.
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
DISTAL 6a
Same soil amendment activities as conducted at
“Catholic 40”
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
BEFORE AND AFTER
Courtesy of Google Earth – dated 04/23/2013
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
BEFORE AND AFTER
Courtesy of Google Earth – dated 03/29/2015
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
Beaver Creek North
 SE Distal Zone, Beaver Creek
North
 Mixed-Ownership Property
(Restricted and Unrestricted
Interest)
 Cooperative agreement
with EPA to conduct
remedial action activities
 Chat Pile 060 Marketable
Source Material
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
Beaver Creek North
 Remedial Action began in June
2015 and involved: excavation,
hauling, and disposal of
approximately 47,000 tons of
source material (chat).
 Marketable and Unmarketable
chat present
 The source material was
disposed of in a large collapsed
feature on the north end of the
Tar Creek Site.
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
Beaver Creek North
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TRIBAL-LED REMEDIAL ACTION ACTIVITIES
Beaver Creek North
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FUTURE WORK AT SITE
 Elm Creek Distal Zone
 Distal 13
 Distal 10 and 12
 OU5 Data Gap Analysis
and Potential Modeling
 Continued Investment
and Dedication to Tribal
Interest and Community
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THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE FORUM
 QUESTIONS and/or COMMENTS???
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CONTACT INFO:
Quapaw Tribe Environmental Office
(918) 533-3085
Tim Kent, Director
[email protected]
Craig Kreman, Assistant Director
[email protected]
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