Financial Settlement Declared Over Contaminated Mine In Jo Daviess County

A settlement reached in federal court will help pay some of the costs of the cleanup of a former lead and zinc mine in Jo Daviess County. A report says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a $1.25 million settlement with the owners and former owners of part of the Bautsch-Gray Mine site, located about five miles south of Galena. The EPA has been cleaning up the 34.2-acre site and several adjacent parcels of private property since it was listed as a Superfund site in 2012. The project is estimated to cost about $21.4 million. Judge Iain D. Johnston granted a motion to approve a consent decree between the EPA and West Galena Development, Inc., and the estate of Lois. J. Wienen and declared the civil case terminated Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. A consent decree is a settlement agreement that resolves a dispute without admission of liability among the parties. Federal attorneys had stated that the settlement was fair and in the public’s interest.