Oklahoma

Environmental protection

The Oklahoma Department of Environment Quality has overall responsibility for coordinating all pollution control activities by other state agencies and for developing a comprehensive water quality management program for Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Conservation Commission is responsible for conservation of renewable natural resources through landuse planning, small watershed upstream flood control, reclamation of abandoned mine land, water quality monitoring and soil and water conservation, as well as environmental education and wetlands conservation. The Department of Wildlife Conservation manages wildlife resources and habitat specifically for hunters, anglers, and others who appreciate wildlife.

The Department of Health is responsible for the monitoring of air quality standards; the enforcement of regulations covering control of industrial and solid waste; the enforcement of regulations covering radioactive materials at the Kerr-McGee processing facility at Gore and elsewhere; and the maintenance of standards at all public waterworks and sewer systems. The Water Resources Board has broad statutory authority to protect the state's waters.

Toxic industrial wastes remain an environmental concern, and old mines in the Tar Creek area of northeastern Oklahoma still exude groundwater contaminated by zinc, iron, and cadmium. In 2003, Oklahoma had 165 hazardous waste sites listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's database, 10 of which were on the National Priorities List; among these were Compass Industries, Sand Springs Petro Chemical Complex, and Criner.

Lands devastated by erosion during the droughts of the 1930s were purchased by the federal government and turned over to the Soil Conservation Service for restoration. When grasses were firmly established in the mid-1950s, the land was turned over to the US Forest Service and is now leased for grazing. In 2003, the state had about 890,000 acres of wetlands—about 2% of the land. In 2001, Oklahoma received $65,159,000 in federal grants from the EPA; EPA expenditures for procurement contracts in Oklahoma that year amounted to $3,307,000.