Joplin, Mo., Company Wins Mine Waste Cleanup Contract

A Joplin, Mo., company has been awarded a $1.9 million contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for lead mine waste cleanup in Jasper County, Mo. The bidding, limited to service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses, was won by Snyder Construction Co.

Eight additional bids were received with prices ranging up to $4 million dollars. The Snyder Co. will clean up about 75 acres of mining waste between Carterville and Webb City. The work is expected to take about a year. The contract is the first in a series to be bid for cleanups that will cover about 7,000 acres over a 10-year period.

This is the first cleanup contract for mine wastes in Jasper County. EPA has cleaned up residential yard soil and installed public water lines to homes with contaminated private water wells. The contract calls for Snyder to dig up mine wastes and contaminated soil and place the materials in sunken mine pits.

Lead mine wastes come from a variety of lead mining, milling and smelting operations, some dating back to the 1800s. The wastes contaminate ground water, surface water, and surface soil with cadmium, lead and zinc. Lead poisoning can harm adults and children, especially young children. It can harm the development of the central nervous system and IQ and cause behavior problems.

EPA’s strategy calls for at least 3 percent of its contracts to be with service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses. The strategy supports the president’s 2004 executive order to strengthen those opportunities in federal contracting.

The contract with Snyder puts EPA Region 7 at 14 percent this fiscal year. Last fiscal year, the region exceeded 11 percent and achieved five of its six socio-economic goals. Region 10 in Seattle was the only other EPA region to match that accomplishment last year.

Snyder Construction was founded in 1978 and employs about 50 people.