I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2116
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to pro-
vide relocation and other assistance for residents at the Tar Creek 
Superfund site. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2003
Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency to provide relocation and other assistance for 
residents at the Tar Creek Superfund site.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tar Creek Restoration 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Tar Creek Superfund Site (the ‘‘Site’’) 
is a former lead and zinc mining area located in the 
northeastern portion of Ottawa County, Oklahoma. 
(2) The Site includes the Oklahoma portion of 
the Tri-State Mining District of Oklahoma, Kansas, 
and Missouri. 
(3) The Site is located in one of the most flood-
prone parts of Oklahoma. 
(4) Mining began at the Site in the early 1900s 
and continued until the 1970s. 
(5) Due to water in the ore-producing Boone 
Aquifer, mining companies were forced to pump 
large volumes of water from the extensive under-
ground mine workings when the mines were in oper-
ation. 
(6) Much of the mining at the Site was on In-
dian land controlled by the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs. 
(7) During World War I, mining at the Site ac-
counted for more than 45 percent of the Nation’s 
wartime consumption of lead and zinc. 
(8) Mining at the Site created millions of tons 
of waste tailings, or chat.
(9) In 1923, the Department of the Interior 
recommended that chat be stockpiled aboveground at 
the Site so as to enable later reprocessing. 
(10) During World War II, the Department of 
the Interior reiterated its recommendation that chat 
be stockpiled aboveground at the Site. 
(11) In 1960, Congress enacted the Small Pro-
ducers Lead and Zinc Mining Stabilization Act, 
which attempted to encourage lead and zinc produc-
tion at the Site. 
(12) As mining abated in the early 1970s, the 
vast underground mine workings at the Site began 
to refill with water from the Boone Aquifer. 
(13) As water filled the mines, the native sul-
fide minerals, which had been oxidized by exposure 
to air, dissolved and created acid mine water. 
(14) In 1979, acid mine water began dis-
charging at the surface from several locations at the 
Site. 
(15) In 1983, the Site was placed on the Na-
tional Priorities List. 
(16) In 1984, the Environmental Protection 
Agency began work to remediate the acid mine water 
at the Site.
(17) In 1994, after spending millions of dollars 
at the Site, the Environmental Protection Agency 
concluded that it was essentially impossible to reme-
diate the acid mine water. 
(18) There are at least 1,300 mine shafts at 
the Site, many of which remain open. 
(19) There are at least 100,000 boreholes at 
the Site. 
(20) The open mine shafts at the Site are a 
source of recharge to the underground mine work-
ings. 
(21) Millions of tons of chat scar the surface 
area of the Site. 
(22) The stockpiled chat at the Site is laced 
with heavy metals, including lead, that are toxic to 
humans. 
(23) The stockpiled chat contributes to the 
flood problems at the Site and surrounding commu-
nities. 
(24) The stockpiled chat stores water that re-
charges the underground mine workings. 
(25) The stockpiled chat at the Site has been 
used to construct roads at the Site, as well as back-
fill for yards, in driveways, in foundations of homes, 
and other high-access areas.
(26) The use of chat in construction has left 
the residential areas of the Site contaminated with 
heavy metals, including lead. 
(27) In 1994, the Environmental Protection 
Agency began work to remediate residential yards 
that contained unsafe lead concentration levels. 
(28) Scientific studies prove that a large num-
ber of children at the Site have elevated blood lead 
levels. 
(29) Elevated blood lead levels in children have 
been proven to cause learning disabilities and other 
severe health problems. 
(30) Scientific studies suggest that dust from 
the stockpiled chat presents a danger to human 
health. 
(31) Because mining left underground cavities 
at the Site, there have been repeated cave-ins, or 
subsidences, at the Site, with many greater than 100 
feet in diameter. Subsidences have occurred in popu-
lated areas and near schools. 
(32) No work has been undertaken by any 
agency of the United States Government to reme-
diate the stockpiled chat or subsidence dangers at 
the Site.
(33) There have been no comprehensive epide-
miological studies of the Site. 
(34) Because of its many unique environmental 
problems, the Site can never be made safe for 
human habitation. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency shall provide assistance 
under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Prop-
erty Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4621 et 
seq.) to residents within the 17 square mile area identified 
in Governor Keating’s Tar Creek Superfund Task Force 
Final Report of October 2000, including the communities 
of Picher and Cardin on the Tar Creek Superfund site 
in Oklahoma. The Environmental Protection Agency shall 
be considered the displacing agency for purposes of the 
application of that Act. 
(b) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITY.—Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to relieve the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency or any other Federal 
agency of any responsibility under law with respect to the 
cleanup of the Tar Creek Superfund site. 
(c) COMPREHENSIVE RESOLUTION.—The Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall work 
with other appropriate Federal and State officials to seek