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Virtual RALLY for Tar Creek
Caps off 23rd Tar Creek Conference

Our Tar Creek needs heroes - and they certainly showed up at this year's Tar Creek Conference! Thank you to all our amazing presenters and to the community members and who joined us. It was an honor to have you with us.

Residents Call on city of Miami
to Protect Tar Creek and Give Her Rights

On June 9, 2021, Miami residents John Holt, Jacklyn Robinson, and James Couch became proponents of Miami, Oklahoma's first municipal initiative petition.

On behalf of the people of Miami, John, Jackie, and Jim call on the City of Miami to adopt a Clean Water Protection Ordinance. If passed, it will declare that residents of Miami have a right to clean water including a clean Tar Creek, and that Tar Creek herself has legal rights including the rights to exist, to flow, and to support life. It will make any interference with these rights, or any future pollution of Tar Creek, a public nuisance and a criminal misdemeanor.

During the summer circulators have fanned out across the city collecting hundreds of signatures from Miami voters who believe it's time to obligate the city to protect Tar Creek against further contamination and damage. If the City Council votes down the Ordinance, these petition signatures will compel the City to call a special election at which Miami voters can vote directly on the Clean Water Protection Ordinance.

Residents Standing Up and
Speaking Out to Protect Tar Creek

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Call to Action:  Tell EPA, FERC, and Gov. Stitt
it’s Time to Work Together on Tar Creek

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Since its Superfund designation, the EPA and State of Oklahoma have spent more than $300 million at Tar Creek — yet the creek still flows orange, tailings piles still loom on the horizon and children are still poisoned by lead.

The health of communities around Tar Creek can no longer be ignored. The pollution of Tar Creek must be addressed as a matter of environmental justice.

Join LEAD Agency, American Rivers, and the Anthropocene Alliance in calling on the EPA, FERC, and the State of Oklahoma to develop a cleanup plan that protects Tar Creek and the health of local Indigenous communities and other residents.

Take ten minutes. Help save Tar Creek and protect everyone in her watershed.

Click here for a sample letter, mailing addresses, and links for digital letters.

Tar Creek Named among
America’s Most Endangered Rivers

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American Rivers today named Tar Creek among America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2021, citing the serious threat that toxic pollution from one of the country’s biggest Superfund sites poses to public health. American Rivers and its partners called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the State of Oklahoma to develop a cleanup plan that protects Tar Creek and the health of local Indigenous communities and other residents. Indigenous people from nine tribes make up more than 20 percent of the population in the county, with many individuals having ancestry in multiple tribes.

Click here to read more...

Virtual Public Meeting Recording Now Available

If you missed the virtual meeting explaining EPA's preliminary remediation goals for Operable Unit 5 of the Tar Creek Superfund Site, you can watch the complete recording on our Facebook page.
To download and review slides summarizing EPA's proposals, please click the link below.
OU5 Proposed Remediation Goals Slides
File Size: 2211 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
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EPA has prepared Preliminary Remediation Goals (cleanup standards) for human health with regard to OU5, which includes the sediments and surface water in continuously flowing creeks, streams and rivers that may be impacted by historical mining activities within Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.

LEAD has asked technical advisors from EPA to explain to the public what EPA is proposing for its remediation goals, as well as the methods they used to arrive at their proposals.

This meeting will help the public write effective comments to EPA about their proposals so that the cleanup is as protective as possible of human health. Public comments will be due April 16.

Click on the image above to review the technical team's written summary of EPA's proposed remediation goals. Be sure to join us March 23 to learn more and get your questions answered.

2020 Virtual Conference Completed
Conference Sessions Available to View Online

We were thrilled to partner with the Western Mining Action Network for a dynamic and enlightening virtual conference. Click on this link to watch archived recordings of all the sessions,

Tar Creek Superfund Site OU5 Human Health
Risk Assessment Comments Now Closed
Thank you all for submitting comments. You DO make a difference! We will let you know when EPA responds.

VIDEO AND DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE:
EPA recently released its draft Human Health Risk Assessment for Operable Unit 5 of the Tar Creek Superfund site. EPA  is requesting comments on the risk assessment. The comment deadline is August 17, 2020.

 To learn more about the risk assessment, EPA's Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC) program hosted a live webinar that you can watch at this link. During the webinar, the TASC team explained the purpose and contents of the Human Health Risk Assessment. They also answered questions from members of the public. Please take the time to watch this presentation.

After watching the video, consider whether YOU think the EPA has adequately described and explained the human health risks posed by OU5. Then write a comment to EPA with your opinions and, just as importantly, your questions. EPA must hear from residents in order to improve the Risk Assessment. If the Risk Assessment doesn't reflect the extent of the human health risks that exist, then their plan to clean up OU5 will not address all the risks.

Comments are due August 17 and should be emailed to coats.janetta@epa.gov.