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Residents want lead mine settlement spent in communities

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Some residents in southeast Missouri want money from a lead mining settlement spent in communities impacted by contamination, not on a new state park.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports residents panned a plan to buy 2,500 acres for the Oregon County Park during a special meeting Tuesday. The proposal would use part of a $40 million settlement with mining company Asarco.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and two federal agencies would decide how to spend the settlement. Funds can be used to clean up contamination and offset damage by protecting wilderness elsewhere.

Department of Natural Resources Director Sara Parker Pauley said more money would be spent in areas tainted by lead. But she said the agencies are waiting in some areas for the Environmental Protection Agency to finish the first phase of cleanups.

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