Abstract: The Tar Creek Superfund Site is a portion of the abandoned lead and zinc mining area known as the Tri-State Mining District (OK, KS and MO) and includes over 100 square kilometers of disturbed land surface and contaminated water resources in extreme northeastern Oklahoma. Underground mining from the 1890s through the 1960s degraded over 1000 surface hectares, and left nearly 50 km of tunnels, 165 million tons of processed mine waste materials (chat), 300 hectares of tailings impoundments and over 2600 open shafts and boreholes. Approximately 94 million cubic meters of contaminated water currently exist in underground voids. In 1979, metal-rich waters began to discharge into surface waters from natural springs, bore holes and mine shafts. Six communities are located within the boundaries of the Superfund site. Approximately 70% of the site is Native American owned. Subsidence and surface collapse hazards are of significant concern. The Tar Creek site was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 and currently receives a Hazard Ranking System score of 58.15, making Tar Creek the nation's number one NPL site. A 1993 Indian Health Service study demonstrated that 35% of children had blood lead levels above thresholds dangerous to human health. Recent remediation efforts have focused on excavation and replacement of contaminated residential areas. In January 2000, Governor Frank Keating's Tar Creek Task Force was created to take a “vital leadership role in identifying solutions and resources available to address” the myriad environmental problems. The principle final recommendation was the creation of a massive wetland and wildlife refuge to ecologically address health, safety, environmental, and aesthetic concerns. Additional interim measures included continuing the Task Force and subcommittees; study of mine drainage discharge and chat quality; construction of pilot treatment wetlands; mine shaft plugging; investigations of bioaccumulation issues; establishment of an authority to market and export chat, a local steering committee, and a GIS committee; and development of effective federal, state, tribal, and local partnerships.

Abstract: Vor dem Hintergrund einer planmäßigen Tagebauentwicklung muss der das Gewinnungsfeld in Nord-Süd-Richtung durchquerende Fluss Inde Ende 2005 bergbaulich in Anspruch genommen werden. Als Ersatz wurde auf Grundlage des Planfeststellungsbeschlusses vom 10.09.1998 eine neue Inde auf einer Länge von rd. 12 km erstellt. Rund 10 km der neuen Inde liegt innerhalb des Tagebaufeldes. Hierzu musste eine Flusslandschaft angelegt werden. Im Gegensatz bisher anthropogen geprägten Inde, ist eine naturnahe und weiträumige Flusslandschaft vorgesehen. Die Gestaltung soll, in Verbindung mit den zahlreichen eingebrachten Landschaftselementen wie Flutmulden, Altarmansätzen und Kolke, eine artenreiche und ökologisch hochwertige Auenlandschaft ermöglichen. Die Flutung der neuen Inde erfolgt auf Grundlage eines dreiphasigen Gewässerumschlusskonzeptes. Im Anschluss an die Flutung soll ein Monitoring- Programm zur Dokumentation der hydrodynamischen, morphologischen und landschaftsökologischen Entwicklung der Indeflur durchgeführt werden. Against the background of the scheduled eastward development of the Inden opencast mine, the Inde river which runs there must make way for mining operations at the end of 2005. Prior to this, as a replacement for the riverbed, which is some 4.5 km long, a riverscape has had to be created as a bypass in the west, mainly within the scope of rehabilitation measures. The model built for this purpose based on historical records provides for a close-to-nature and spacious riverscape with hand- and soft-wood meadows, unlike the anthropogenically marked Inde of today, with a meandering mean water bed. This design, in conjunction with the many installed landscape elements, like flood hollows, creeks and potholes, aims at creating a diverse and ecologically high-quality meadow landscape. The main factors impacting the river's route were the opencast mine's geometry and progress, as well as the planned and existing utilization of the land surfaces outside the opencast field. Besides these constraints, there were stipulated vertical points due to hydraulic requirements. The Inde plains, taking account of the planned route, were created on the basis of a design template, which provides for a stable level, a sealing layer and a cultivatable meadow substrate layer. In addition, the meadow substrate layer protects the sealing layer from erosion thanks to its medium- and coarse-grained gravel content. The Inde was constructed in the opencast field within the scope of rehabilitation in spreader operations, meaning that it was possible to dump the material to be installed in line with the design template and given elevations. The flooding of the 'new' Inde was based on a three-phase waterway rerouting concept and provided for increasing discharge quantities. This enabled a bottom covering layer to be formed successively, and ailowed the aquatic fauna to gently adapt to the changed living conditions and further seed material to be flushed in.