The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, acting as trustees for natural resources, invite the public to an informational meeting on Wednesday May 27, 2015, to learn about the trustees’ draft Madison County Mines Site Addendum to the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District Damage Assessment Plan. The addendum to the Damage Assessment Plan is a keystone document in the natural resource damage assessment and restoration process at the Madison County Mines Site. The meeting will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Black River Electric Cooperative, 2600 Highway 67, Fredericktown, Missouri 63645.
Agency representatives will be on hand to discuss the draft Madison County Mines Plan and solicit comments on the document. The draft plan is intended to ensure that the natural resource damages assessment for the Madison County Mines Site is performed in a planned and systematic manner and that the methods to be used for the future Injury Determination, Quantification and Damages Determination Phases can be conducted at a reasonable cost. Also available for public review and comment is the draft study plan for the crayfish population and in-situ toxicity, the first injury study to be conducted under the addendum.
The trustees previously completed the Pre-Assessment Phase of the Madison County Mine Site Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration process. Based on the results of the Pre-Assessment, the trustees decided to pursue additional Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration activities. The trustees developed this draft plan for the Madison County Mines Site, which describes activities that will collect and generate information for determining the nature and extent of natural resources injuries and contaminant pathways.
The Madison County Mines Site is a part of the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District. The Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District spans multiple counties from 40 to 90miles south southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, and is located in the Big River, Black River and St Francois River watersheds. It isone of the largest lead-producing regions of the world.
Public participation is an important part of Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Process. Comments and input from the public on both the addendum and the draft crayfish study plan are encouraged and will be accepted during for 30 days after the release of the draft Madison County Mines Site Addendum to the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District Damage Assessment Plan. Members of the public should submit their comments to:
Mr. John Weber
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
101 Park DeVille Dr. Suite A
Columbia, MO 65203
John_S_Weber@fws.gov
To obtain a copy of the draft addendum and/or the draft crayfish study plan and to learn more about natural resource damage assessment and the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District, visit http://www.fws.gov/midwest/es/ec/nrda/SEMONRDA/index.html or http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/sfund/nrda.htm.
