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Oklahoma Site Added to National Superfund List

Release Date: 1/15/1999
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

                               
     The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) announced today that the former Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing site in Collinsville, Oklahoma, has been added to the Federal Superfund program's National Priority List (NPL).

     "By working together, EPA and the State of Oklahoma will be able to clean these sites faster to better protect the public health and the environment of these communities. EPA's goal is to renew contaminated sites and make them available for future development. After a Superfund cleanup, both the stigma and the risk that can sap a community's prosperity is removed," EPA Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke said.

     Mark Coleman, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality said, "I am very pleased that Tulsa Fuels has been placed on the Superfund list.  This means the clean up will begin soon.  Zinc smelters have been a focus of our clean up efforts and have resulted in a series of success stories.  With the addition of this site, we will begin the clean up of the last large old zinc smelter site in Oklahoma.  Our goal in cleaning these old sites is to restore the land to productive use."

     Most of the structures that existed when a zinc smelter and lead roaster operated on the site from 1914 through 1925 have been destroyed. Little is known about the operations or how waste was handled. About seven acres are covered by two to six feet of waste from the abandoned smelter.

     Because this waste is not protected, wind and rain can cause nearby soil and water to become contaminated. On the eastern edge of the property, waste has contaminated a man-made pond which flows into wetlands, posing a threat to a variety of aquatic and animal life.

     The Federal Superfund program was created by Congress in 1980 to clean uncontrolled  hazardous waste sites. The Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing site was proposed to be added to the NPL September 29, 1998. All of the comments received during the 60-day public comment period were in favor of the site being added to the NPL.

     Additional information about this site is available on EPA's web site at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar1534.htm