Tar Creek Trust Says Land Was Given Away

Monday, February 12th 2007, 6:07 am

By: News On 6

PICHER, Okla. (AP) -- Members of the Tar Creek buyout trust say they will take legal action if necessary to reacquire land they say the Ottawa Reclamation Authority gave away illegally.

An audit of the authority released in October showed that the authority had made a land transaction with Lester and Vicky Foster nearly three weeks after it had been disbanded in June.

The land in question is in northern Ottawa County and contains a pile of chat, a type of mining waste. The authority sold it to the Fosters for 1-thousand-dollars.

Mike Sexton, the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust treasurer, says the trust will take legal action if the land is not returned to the trust.

The trust also wants the Fosters to return any money they might have received from the sale of the chat.

Lester Foster says the trust can have the land. He says he did receive money from chat sales, but split it with the authority.