The government’s apparently reached a settlement over the cleanup of the massive mining operation that became a Superfund site west of Red River, New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the State of New Mexico filed a proposed $143 million settlement with Chevron Mining Inc. over the next step in the cleanup of Chevron’s Questa Mine site.
As part of the deal, Chevron will reimburse the Environmental Protection Agency to the tune of $5.2 million. The company also agreed to perform a pilot project cleanup of nearly 275 acres of the mountain of mine waste. It will also be required to operate a water treatment plant and install groundwater extraction systems.
OK Energy Today reported earlier in the year that Chevron was fighting a federal judge’s ruling that said the federal government was not liable for the cleanup costs. Chevron argued that even though it ran the mine, it was still owned by the federal government and the government was liable.
The massive molybdenum mine, located between Red River and the small town of Questa was closed in the summer of 2014.
