EPA says costs rising from mining area's cleanup

<br>(Picher-AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency says it'll have to spend 46 million more dollars than it first thought to clean up mining waste in northeast Oklahoma's Tar Creek area. <br><br>The

Thursday, October 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Picher-AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency says it'll have to spend 46 million more dollars than it first thought to clean up mining waste in northeast Oklahoma's Tar Creek area.

The notice to Senator Don Nickles' office comes after the EPA has already spent more than 86 million dollars on the project. The EPA says it still doesn't have a figure on the cleanup's total cost.

Tar Creek is a 40-square mile area that includes the towns of Picher, Cardin, Quapaw, Commerce and North Miami. Lead and zinc mining that stopped in the 1960s left soil contamination and sink holes. High levels of lead have been detected in the blood of children who grew up in the area.