ASARCO Settlement Provides $194 Million for Federal, State and Tribal Wildlife and Habitat Resource Restoration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today
that an environmental damage settlement with ASARCO LLC, a North American
mining conglomerate, would provide about $194 million for the recovery of
wildlife, habitat and other natural resources managed by Interior, state
and tribal governments at more than a dozen sites around the nation.

“Through this historic settlement, the American public is compensated for
the damage and loss of natural resources resulting from ASARCO’s past
mining, smelting and refining operations,” Secretary Salazar said. “Were it
not for this agreement, these injured resources would either remain
impaired for future generations or require taxpayer expenditures to achieve
environmental restoration.”

“This is a milestone not only for the Federal Government but also for
Interior and its Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration
Program,” Salazar said. “It exemplifies government working effectively for
the American taxpayer to recover damages from polluters and restore and
protect significant national landscapes and wildlife resources that have
been injured.”

Assistant Secretary for Fish Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland called the
settlement the type of environmental enforcement action that ensures that
those responsible for polluting the nation’s landscapes and waterways are
made to pay for their actions. “I want to commend the extraordinary level
and amount of federal, state and tribal cooperation and coordination that
accomplished this settlement,” Strickland said.

He also thanked representatives on the case teams that developed the
claims, including Interior personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, other
federal agencies and state and tribal governments for their professionalism
and dedication. “The settlement demonstrates the ability of Interior’s
bureaus and offices to work cooperatively and productively on behalf of the
public – and especially the taxpayers – to achieve major benefits for the
environment.”

The case teams were supported by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey
at the Columbia Environmental Research Center and Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center, the NRDAR Program Office and the Office of the Solicitor

The $194 million payment is part of the largest environmental damage
bankruptcy case in U.S. history, with parent corporation Grupo México
providing a total of $1.79 billion to resolve the ASARCO’s environmental
liabilities from operations that contaminated land, water and wildlife
resources on federal, state, tribal and private land.

Along with federal, state and tribal co-trustees, Interior brought claims
at more than a dozen sites which were settled during the ASARCO bankruptcy. On behalf of
co- trustees, Interior will receive the $194 million and deposit these
funds into the Department’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and
Restoration Fund. By law, and in consultation and collaboration with
co-trustees, the money will be used to restore, replace, and/or acquire the
equivalent of the injured natural resources managed by Interior and jointly
managed with state and tribal governments.

The major regional sites in which Interior is involved and the total
settled claim for damages to each are listed below. Each site covered by
the settlement is at a different point in the restoration planning process,
which will determine when restoration work will take place on the ground.

The California Gulch Site in the Upper Arkansas River Basin in central
Colorado near Leadville encompasses more than 15 square miles. Natural
resources injured include: surface water, groundwater, fish, migratory
birds, and supporting ecosystems, including wetlands in floodplain
areas. . Interior received $5.9 million. The State of Colorado, the
co-trustee, also received $5.9 million. For additional information,
contact FWS Region 6 - Diane Katzenberger – 303.236.4578 or Laura Archuleta
– 719.850.1196

Bunker Hill Superfund Facility in the Coeur d’Alene Basin of Northern Idaho
includes extensive public land, water and wildlife and migratory bird
habitat resources administered by Interior’s FWS and BLM, the Department of
Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Natural
resources that have been injured by the mining activities include: surface
water, groundwater, fish, wildlife, and migratory birds (in particular
tundra swans) and their supporting ecosystems. Interior and the
USDA-Forest Service jointly received $79.5 million. In addition, $28.9
million will be held by the Successor Coeur d’Alene Custodial and Work
Trust to be used to perform work selected by EPA as part of its
comprehensive remedy at the Coeur d’Alene Site and prioritized by Interior
and USDA/FS as co-Natural Resource Trustees. For additional information,
contact FWS Region 1 -- Joan Jewett – 503-231.6211
The Ray Mine/Hayden Smelter Site is located in east-central Arizona near
the towns of Kelvin and Hayden. Affected areas include Mineral Creek
within the Ray Mine to its confluence with the Gila River and approximately
40 miles of the Gila River from the Hayden Smelter downstream to the
Ashurst-Hayden dam. Natural resources that have been injured by mining
activities include: surface water, groundwater, fish, and migratory bird
and supporting ecosystem functions necessary for threatened and endangered
species. Interior and the State of Arizona have jointly received $3.8
million. Interior received about $266,000 to reimburse past assessment
costs. In addition, the settlement provides that ASARCO will convey by
quit claim deed to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission three tracts of
land totaling 995 acres and any associated water rights. For additional
information, contact FWS Region 2 – Tom Buckley – 602.248.6455

Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District spans multiple counties from 40 to
90 miles south southwest of St. Louis, Missouri and is located in the Big
River/Meramec River, Black River, and St Francois River watersheds. It is
one of the largest lead producing regions of the world. Natural resources
affected by mining-related contamination include surface water,
groundwater, fish, migratory birds, endangered species of fresh-water
mussels and their supporting ecosystems, including sediment and floodplain
areas. Interior and the State of Missouri jointly received $41.2 million
for natural resource damages at five sites in the District. Interior
received approximately $274,000 to reimburse past assessment costs. For
additional information, contact FWS Region 3 - Georgia Parham 812.334.4261

Tri-State Mining District spans 2,500 square miles, including parts of
southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri and northeast Oklahoma. The District
is located in the Spring River and Neosho River watersheds, both of which
flow generally south, terminating in the headwaters of Grand Lake O’ the
Cherokee. Natural resources affected by mining-related contamination
include surface water, fish, migratory birds, freshwater mussels and
threatened and endangered species and their supporting habitat, such as
sediments. Interior, the states of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and six
American Indian tribes jointly received $62.4 million for natural resource
damages in the District. Interior received $2.3 million to reimburse past
assessment costs. For information on Tar Creek, Oklahoma, contact FWS
Region 2 - Tom Buckley – 602.248.6455. For information on Cherokee County,
contact FWS Region 6 - Diane Katzenberger – 303.236.4578 or John Meisner
785.539.3474 ext 103. For information on Jasper County, Missouri, contact
FWS Region 3 - Georgia Parham at 812.334.4261.

Montana Custodial Trust: East Helena Site, Black Pine Site, and Iron
Mountain Sites, Montana. Interior filed and settled claims for natural
resource damages at these properties owned by ASARCO, which has agreed to
transfer them to the Montana Custodial Trust that will be funded so that
the environmental claimants may implement appropriate response,
reclamation, and natural resource damage restoration actions. Interior,
the State of Montana and the US EPA are the beneficiaries of the trust
while USDA-Forest Service also has a coordinating role. The custodial
trustee is the Montana Environmental Trust Group, LLC, which will
administer the Custodial Trust and its accounts. Trust resources include
migratory birds and threatened and endangered species, such as the Bull
Trout. The East Helena Smelter Site is in west-central Montana, south of
East Helena in Lewis and Clark County. Interior has an independent claim
of $706,000 to fund natural resource restoration and future oversight
costs. EPA continues to plan and conduct its remedial action on site. The
Black Pine/Combination Mining district is about 10 miles northwest of
Phillipsburg, Montana in Granite County. Interior trust resources include
migratory birds and threatened and endangered species, including the Bull
Trout and Canada Lynx. Interior has an independent claim of $61,000 for
natural resource restoration and future oversight costs. The State of
Montana is the lead agency to clean up the site. The Iron Mountain Mining
District is north of Superior, Montana in Mineral County. Interior has an
independent claim of $36,000 for natural resource restoration and future
oversight costs. For additional information, contact FWS Region 6 – Diane
Katzenberger 303.236.4578 or Mark Wilson 406.449.5225 ext 205