ALTON, Mo. – Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, joined a growing chorus of legislative voices from southern and southeast Missouri opposing a plan by Gov. Jay Nixon to create a state park at Frederick Creek Ranch in Oregon County.
Romine wrote a letter to Nixon telling him that at a meeting held at Mineral Area College last week, public opinion in the area did not support funding going toward a state park instead of other programs.
“It was abundantly clear that the citizens of the [Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District] (SEMOLMD) are emphatically against the purchase of the Frederick Creek Ranch in Oregon County,” Romine wrote. “The audience included local county commissioners as well as the commissioners from Oregon County and interested citizens. All in attendance who spoke during the meeting voiced their opposition to this proposed park. It is worth noting that there wasn’t a single member of the audience who spoke in support of the Frederick Creek project.”
The money used to build the park would be used from a settlement reached with ASARCO LLC, a mining smelting and refining company.
However, none of those sites are in Oregon County. Two of the sites are in southwest Missouri near Joplin and the others are spread across southeast Missouri.
“ASARCO settlement money should be spent to benefit those who have been directly affected by mining in the SEMOLMD and not for pet projects far removed from the damaged areas,” Romine wrote (emphasis original to letter).
U.S. Rep. Jason Smith released his own take on events Friday, condemning the governor’s decision to take funds out of an area directly affected by the ASARCO’s pollution.
“As much as the governor’s administration may want to stake their legacy on this land, the agreement is clear,” Smith said. “Oregon County is outside the impact area. Misusing these funds is a violation of the settlement agreement and the public trust.”
The full text of Romine’s letter can be read below.
October 20, 2015
The Honorable Jay Nixon
Governor of the State of Missouri
201 West Capitol Ave., Room 201
Jefferson City MO 65101
Dear Governor:
I am writing to urge you to drop the proposed state park at Frederick Creek Ranch in Oregon County. My constituents and I, as well as the citizens of Oregon County are adamantly opposed to this project moving forward. As the state trustee for natural resource damages under federal law, it is well within your power to stop this project by directing your designee to ensure that all settlement money for natural resource damages is spent to benefit the citizens of the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District (SEMOLMD) who are most directly affected by lead mining activities.
During the public meeting held on October 13 at Mineral Area College, it was abundantly clear that the citizens of the SEMOLMD are emphatically against the purchase of the Frederick Creek Ranch in Oregon County. The audience included local county commissioners as well as the commissioners from Oregon County and interested citizens. All in attendance who spoke during the meeting voiced their opposition to this proposed park. It is worth noting that there wasn’t a single member of the audience who spoke in support of the Frederick Creek project.
Even more disturbing was the indication by your designee that the overwhelming negative comments about the project may not stop the purchase of the ranch. To add insult to injury, we were contacted by the commissioners in Oregon County last week, and they indicated that your designee has already entered into negotiations to purchase more property in Oregon County using settlement funds.
ASARCO settlement money should be spent to benefit those who have been directly affected by mining in the SEMOLMD and not for pet projects far removed from the damaged areas. (Emphasis original to letter.)
There is also the risk of a lawsuit if you choose to pursue this project. The purchase of this land would push the bounds of the settlement with ASARCO. While legal under CERCLA and the strategically drawn map of the restoration area for compensatory restoration, this proposal would violate the agreement that ASARCO made in settling its bankruptcy claims. In that agreement, ASARCO designated money to be used “at or in connection” to the damaged area. How is the proposed project at Frederick Creek Ranch, which is over 100 miles away from St. Francois County, connected to the SEMOLMD? The Oregon
County commissioners themselves stated that there hasn’t ever been lead mining in the county, and they have not experienced any contamination from lead.
Even more problematic is the way this proposed project was handled from the beginning. The whole process has been shrouded in secrecy and handled similarly to the park that is currently being built at Camp Zoe in Shannon County. It is difficult to believe that primary restoration will occur when history has shown that you are more than willing to divert money appropriated for capital improvements at all of our state parks. And that happened after we voted for a bond issue to fund even more capital improvements at our parks. My constituents and I are adamant that we will not lose this funding intended for our area.
On top of this scandal is the fact that the public was not properly notified about the meeting at Johnson Shut-Ins. The trustees said they sent notification out to their email list of about 480 people as well as press releases to the media. There were three media outlets at the meeting on October 13th, and not a single one received the press release. Several economic development directors who have worked on this issue from the beginning and developed project plans were also in attendance and told the trustees that despite signing up for every email list they can find, they did not receive an email about the meeting. My office heard about the meeting from a third party the day before it was held, and state representatives from the area had the same amount of notification. On its face, it appears that this was a deliberate attempt to keep citizens from attending the meeting to avoid the backlash from this proposed project. This is simply an unacceptable practice of your administration.
Given the lack of transparency and the controversy surrounding this proposed project, I have no choice but to get to the bottom of how this project was chosen and how we can ensure that these decisions are made in an open and transparent manner. In the coming weeks, the Missouri Lead Industry Employment, Economic Development and Environmental Remediation Task Force, which I chair, will begin work to answer these questions. It is what the citizens of SEMOLMD deserve.
This decision is in your hands. Oregon County does not want the new park and my constituents and I think the settlement monies should be spent in the primary area. Again, the best decision is to drop the proposed project in Oregon County and use the settlement money in the primary mining area.
I look forward to your response on this issue.
Sincerely,
Senator Gary Romine
