News Release

Cherokee County Mining Days Long Gone but Legacy Continues for Streams and Lakes

The mining camps and the thousands of miners that once labored hundreds of feet below the surface of Cherokee County are gone, but the legacy of 100 years of lead and zinc mining in southeast Kansas persist in area streams. Streambed sediments in some streams have such high concentrations of lead and zinc that aquatic life is still affected 35 years after the last mine closed. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), has released the first report of a two-phase study to determine the extent and magnitude of metals on streambed and Empire Lake bottom sediments.

Between 1876 and 1970, underground lead and zinc mining removed enough rock from Cherokee County to have built a 1-foot thick and 220-feet high wall around the state of Kansas. The milling, smelting, and on-site waste storage of this huge volume of rock resulted in the environmental dispersal of lead, zinc, and other metals throughout a large part of Cherokee County. 

“Unfortunately, most things that humans release into the environment have a tendency to end up in our streams and lakes,” said Mike Pope, author of the USGS report that examined area streams for contaminated bed sediments in 2004 and 2005. “Lead, zinc, and some other metals in streambed sediments can be toxic to aquatic life that live within or feed upon these sediments,” he said. Affected life forms may include insects, mussels, fish, and potentially other species that may feed upon these, such as humans. Presently, KDHE recommends that eating clams, mussels, and crayfish from the Spring River and Shoal Creek be avoided because of lead and cadmium contamination.

Results from Phase 1 of the study indicated that concentrations of lead in streambed sediment at 56 percent of 87 sampling sites and concentrations of zinc at 75 percent of sampling sites exceeded sediment quality guidelines believed to represent probable toxic conditions for some aquatic species. Concentrations of lead and zinc in Spring River bed sediment increased 7 and 17 times, respectively, during its 22-mile course from Missouri through Kansas.  "What we need to understand first is the extent and magnitude of the problem,” said John Miesner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  “After we know that, we can look at the options for remediation."

In phase 2 of the study, sediment cores were collected from Empire Lake, an impoundment of the Spring River, and are being analyzed to determine the concentrations and amounts of lead, zinc, and other metals, how they vary throughout the lake, and what effects human activity has had on sediment quality over time. Results of the Phase 2 part of the study will be published in a report in late 2006.

The results of this two-phase study will provide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a comprehensive assessment of sediment quality in selected streams of the Spring River and Tar Creek systems of the Cherokee County and will help guide remediation efforts for the area.

The new streambed-sediment report for Cherokee County is available online at:

http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/sir2005-5251/

Copies of Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5251, “Assessment of Contaminated Streambed Sediment in the Kansas Part of the Historic Tri-State Lead and Zinc Mining District, Cherokee County, 2004,” by Larry M. Pope, may be purchased from the USGS Information Services, Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, Colo. 80225, or call 1-888-ASK-USGS. A limited number of copies are available from the USGS office in Lawrence, Kansas.

The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

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