GALENA, Kan. (AP) State health officials say pollution from a former southeast Kansas smelter operation is scheduled to be cleaned up next year and the site could eventually be redeveloped.
The former EaglePicher plant began operation in 1878 and operated for much of the following century. The Joplin Globe reports the 68 acres of the former smelter will be cleaned up using $6.5 million from EaglePicher’s 2005 bankruptcy settlement.
The project also will include cleaning up sediment from Short Creek, which flows across the back of the property. It is expected to begin next summer.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment presented plans for the cleanup to the Galena City Council on Monday.
KDHE unit chief Christopher Carey says the goal is to eventually make the property available for development.
