Mine Tailings
PARK HILLS, Mo. (AP) - Federal authorities are asking the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to ensure that visitors using an off-road vehicles section of St. Joe State Park are protected from potential lead contamination caused by mine tailings. DNR chief Doyle Childers says the EPA has no plans to close the park, which sits about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis. About one-quarter of its more than 8,000 acres include mine tailings set aside for off-road vehicles. The tailings are waste material from lead mining and are piled up to 100 feet deep in a former valley. Lead is a known carcinogen. Exposure in children can impair intelligence, slow growth and cause behavioral problems.