Tribe anticipates selling chat

Monday, June 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Miami, Oklahoma-AP) -- A Quapaw Tribe administrator says a ban on the sale of enormous amounts of mine waste -- called chat -- on tribal lands in the Tar Creek Superfund site could soon be lifted.

The tribe is expecting the Bureau of Indian Affairs to lift its moratorium on the sale of chat. The ban on chat sales has been in place since 1997.

Tons of the gravel-like waste form mountains in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma. The majority of chat lies on tribal lands.

Chat has been linked to blood-lead levels that are ten times higher than the state average for many children who live near the Tar Creek site.

New regulations put into effect June first by the state Department of Environmental Quality ban the use of loose chat in driveways and other places where children might be exposed to it.

However, it is considered safe when bound up with asphalt for roads.