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EPA provides additional funding for Tar Creek voluntary buyout

Release Date: 09/02/2008
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

ODEQ to receive $9.55 million to continue buyout and relocation efforts

(Dallas, Texas – September 2, 2008) The Environmental Protection Agency is providing an additional $9.55 million in federal funding to the Oklahoma Department of Environment Quality (ODEQ) to assist with the buyout and relocation of residents of Cardin, Hockerville, and Picher, Oklahoma.

Previously, the agency provided $5 million in funds following a May 10 tornado that struck the former mining town of Picher, which is located in the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site.

“EPA has worked with federal, state and tribal partners at an unprecedented level of cooperation for more than two decades to clean up the Tar Creek site,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “We will continue to work with our many other partners to respond to the challenges at Tar Creek and protect the communities impacted by the site.”

The additional funding will be used to continue buying out residents and demolishing or relocating homes, businesses, and public use structures located in the disaster area.

EPA listed the Tar Creek Superfund site on its National Priorities List in 1983. The site is located in northeast Oklahoma and is part of the 1,188 square mile historic lead and zinc mines known as the Tri-State Mining District in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Additional information on the Tar Creek site is located at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/6sf-ok.htm.

To learn more about activities in EPA Region 6, please visit https://www.epa.gov/region6.