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BOONVILLE – Alcoa Inc. is pressing state mining officials to release some of the reclamation bond money set aside for a southern Indiana mine contaminated with toxic waste.
The state’s Division of Reclamation will take up the company’s request regarding the Squaw Creek Mine bond money at a Jan. 3 public hearing at the Boonville-Warrick County Public Library.
The Squaw Creek Mine Co., a joint venture between Alcoa and Vectren, is seeking a release of $720,006 of the $4,040,500 in mine reclamation bond money currently being held by the state.
The area in question covers 2,588 of the 4,504 acres where the dumping occurred, said Bruce Stevens, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Reclamation.
“The areas which have been designated as locations of known waste are not contained in the bond release request,” Stevens said.
The mine near Boonville is the subject of two lawsuits filed by former miners who believe toxic waste dumped at the mine more than 30 years ago has harmed their health.
Their lawsuits allege Alcoa dumped 65 million gallons of carcinogenic coal tar pitch and 74 million cubic feet of chromium and chromium sludge into mine pits between 1965 and 1979.
An independent health assessment paid for by Alcoa that examined 219 former mine employees and relatives concluded last January that any exposure they may have had did not result “in an excess number of any medical condition,” including cancer.
However, in letters to the Division of Reclamation and lawmakers, Bil Musgrave – one of the former miners suing Alcoa – said he and other miners believe the dumping occurred not just in the identified areas but throughout the mine area.
Musgrave has a rare form of bile duct cancer that he contends was caused by exposure to the waste. He will testify about his health woes during the Jan. 3 public hearing.
