A CASH-OUT CONSENT DECREE RESOLVING CONNOR INVESTMENT COMPANY'S (CONNOR'S) CERCLA LIABILITY AT THE JASPER COUNTY SUPERFUND SITE WAS SIGNED BY CONNOR ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1996, AND EPA REFERRED THIS MATTER TO DOJ ON OCTOBER 22, 1996. THE JASPER COUNTY SITE IS A MEGA-SITE. IT IS AN INACTIVE LEAD AND ZINC MINING AREA CONTAINING MILLIONS OF TONS OF SURFACE MINING WASTES AND COVERING HUNDREDS OF SQUARE MILES. THE SITE IS A PORTION OF THE TRI-STATE MINING DISTRICT LOCATED IN KANSAS, MISSOURI, AND OKLAHOMA, WHICH WAS ONCE THE LARGEST LEAD AND ZINC MINING AREA IN THE WORLD. THIS DISTRICT IS NOW THREE SEPARATE NPL SITES. THE SITE IS ON THE NPL (8/90). REGION VII DIVIDED THE SITE INTO FOUR OPERABLE UNITS AND ELEVEN DESIGNATED AREAS. THE OPERABLE UNITS ARE: OU1-GROUNDWATER; OU2-RESIDENTIAL YARDS/SMELTER WASTE; OU3-RESIDENTIAL YARDS/MINE WASTE; AND OU4-MINE WASTE ECOLOGICAL CLEAN-UP. THE DESIGNATED AREAS ARE RANDOM MINE WASTE PILES THROUGHOUT THE SITE. NINE PRPS ARE CONDUCTING A COMPREHENSIVE RI/FS FOR THIS SITE PURSUANT TO AN ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER ON CONSENT. IDENTIFIED RISKS INCLUDE HUMAN HEALTH RISKS FROM EXPOSURE TO CONTAMINATED RESIDENTIAL SOILS AND CONTAMINATED SHALLOW GROUNDWATER THAT IS USED AS A DRINKING WATER SOURCE, AS WELL AS ECOLOGICAL RISKS FROM CONTAMINATED SURFACE WATER. IN JULY 1996, WE ISSUED A RECORD OF