Freeport-McMoRan and its predecessor companies have worked cooperatively with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to investigate and clean up environmental conditions in Blackwell associated with the former smelter. Freeport-McMoRan never operated the Blackwell smelter, or contributed to the environmental issues that resulted from operations at the facility, but is using resources contributed by other operations to fund the cleanup program. In 2001, ODEQ approved the completion report for the soil cleanup program that Freeport-McMoRan's subsidiary Cyprus Amax Minerals Company had performed in Blackwell in the 1990s. To the extent that landowners did not participate in this original soil cleanup, Freeport-McMoRan agreed to provide additional sampling and, as appropriate, removal of soils from residential and commercial properties in Blackwell.

The original soil cleanup program, which was approved by the ODEQ, was conducted in the 1990s by Cyrpus Amax Minerals Company and was effective in the areas of Blackwell where remediation was conducted. Consistent with private property rights, the soil cleanup plan relied in part on the consent of property owners to address areas on their property that may have been affected by placement of smelter materials, such as for use as fill material or to construct driveways. As part of the initial soil cleanup effort, participating property owners had their yards sampled and if soil was found to exceed the ODEQ-approved cleanup standards, the soil in the entire affected yard area was removed and replaced with clean soil.

Freeport-McMoRan has initiated the supplemental soil program to give owners of properties that did not participate under the previous program an additional opportunity to participate.

The sampling is conducted by environmental professionals in accordance with ODEQ-approved work plans and quality control measures and under ODEQ and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversight. For many properties, ODEQ has conducted duplicate sampling and analysis to verify the accuracy of Freeport-McMoRan's results.

The soil sampling results, however, do not identify where any increased level of metals came from. The soil sample results represent the combined contribution of metals from various sources in Blackwell, including lead paint, leaded gasoline emissions, batteries, solder, vinyl miniblinds, ceramics and natural background levels.

The residential soil remediation work has been very effective to date in removing and replacing affected soils, and upon completion will meet ODEQ requirements for cleaning up soils that may have been impacted by historical smelter operations in Blackwell. Areas with lead, arsenic or cadmium concentrations above the ODEQ cleanup levels are identified, and areas found to have soils exceeding those levels are removed. More information on the sampling and cleanup standards can be found here.

Property owners' participation in this supplemental soil program is voluntary. The level of participation has been excellent with almost 90 percent of all residential property owners in Blackwell requesting sampling of their properties under the supplemental soils program. Property owners can sign up for the program by contacting the Blackwell Community Outreach Office.

Click here for more information on the soil testing and clean up process.