Ozark Mining

by Sarah Bantz

On April 15, 1997, over 200 employees of lead mining companies packed the auditorium at the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) headquarters. Twelve state senators and representatives pushing for the expansion of mining on state lands were also present. The Conservation Commission, which oversees the MDC, was expected to vote in favor of touring MDC lands with the Doe Run Company. This meeting culminated six months of effort on the part of Commission Chair John Powell to convince the MDC that mining is a good use of the public's resources. In spite of the many pro-mining supporters, however, the vote swung against the mining companies-a great victory for the Ozark mountains, its critters and other residents.

The decision came at a pivotal point for environmentalists overwhelmed with the expanded mining on federal, state and private lands in the heart of the Ozark mountains. The Doe Run and ASARCO mining companies extract nearly 85 percent of the lead used in this country from Missouri. They leave behind watersheds too full of waste to be fishable, poisoned communities that voluntarily evacuate and mounds of toxic slag that continue to pollute the northern Ozarks.

More Victories

A second victory for environmentalists came in mid June when two reports were released. A Sierra Club report listed the 500+ violations of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by the two companies over the past ten years. The second study by the Missouri Department of Health documented significant links between lead poisoning and lead mining in rural Missouri, thus holding the companies culpable.

The environmental assessment (EA) released by the US Forest Service, on the other hand, claims that lead exploration is safe. It followed typical Forest Service logic by beginning with a conclusion (i.e., exploration for lead is not bad for the forest) and working backward to prove the statement. For example, according to the EA, black bears will benefit from mining exploration as small openings within a closed canopy will create blackberry patches. And, though the Missouri Ozarks are among the few places with healthy songbird populations, the Forest Service believes further fragmentation through exploration is acceptable. Endemic and endangered Ozark cave fish are not even mentioned in the EA.

History of Exploration

Both Doe Run and ASARCO expect lead reserves to run dry in the next 30 years and are avidly exploring and pursuing mineral rights in the Ozarks on state, federal and private land. While the exact location of lead beneath the ground is proprietary information, it appears that the largest deposits are situated in the most pristine area of Missouri, called the Big Springs region. This region is centered on the Eleven Point, Current and Jack's Fork rivers, all of which are federally protected and geologically unique. Big Springs, with the largest spring in North America, and a dozen other massive springs, is fed by an intricate network of underground waterways. While the EA claims that this water is not coming from beneath the exploration area, most research supports the opposite conclusion-the proposed exploration sites lie at the heart of an intense aquifer.

History of Exploitation

The destructive history of lead mining in this area is a long and sad one. Citizens in the town of Herculaneum suffer from the consequences of a smelter that spews poisons into their airshed and have recently filed a lawsuit charging Doe Run with lowering property values. The company was fined $300,000 several years ago for, among other things, affixing "recyclable" labels over ones reading "hazardous waste." Workers in Cherryville, Missouri really believed they were cleaning railcars used for transporting rock, when later it was determined that the cars had actually contained hazardous waste. For years this toxic mining waste was used for fill for an area used as a playground.

Citizen groups are expanding their decade-long resistance against ASARCO and Doe Run. Public health activists are joining with environmentalists to stop the lead poisoning. Rachel's Hazardous Waste News sums up our predicament:

In sum, if you mine lead out of the ground it will eventually spread into the environment. It will get into soil, then into food and water. Eventually it will get into humans (not to mention wildlife), where it will take its toll on health. This is inevitable. The only way to avoid this outcome is to stop mining lead out of the deep earth. Zero discharge.

Even though it is on the back burner of public consciousness, lead, a toxic substance and a known carcinogen, presents major environmental and health problem. It can affect the central nervous system, kidneys, liver and the hemoglobin synthesis process. It can be fatal, especially to children and small animals.

Nonetheless, the lead industry lobbies against legislation restricting the lead business. Falsified industry studies claim that lead is not poisonous and that children inclined to eat lead or put it in their mouths were brain damaged to begin with. In another effort, the lead industry tried to pass a law requiring the use of lead-based paint in all government operations, including public housing, before yielding to regulation.

Industrial Society and National Defense

Today, 90 percent of mined lead is utilized for lead acid storage batteries in combustion engines. Fortunately, batteries are easily recycled. Unfortunately, car use worldwide, including in the US, is growing. Lead is used in the chemical industry, medical processes and in the manufacture of pipe, weights, glass and china. It is considered essential to our industrial society and for national defense. The lead industry recently proposed adding lead to asphalt, a move which would further spread lead into the environment. Despite its removal from gasoline and paint in the late 1960s, demand for lead is growing. At this rate, the market will not reduce the use of lead because the industry keeps creating new uses for it.