Forest Service backs firm's lead drilling tests

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Forest Service recommended Thursday Doe Run Co. be allowed to prospect for lead in the Mark Twain National Forest. Critics had argued the prized Ozarks land should be left alone.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will make the decision on the drilling. Thursday's move does not mean that mining for ore beneath the forest floor was inevitable, said Charlotte Wiggins, a spokeswoman for the forest.

"This is just exploration, and the sites they use to explore for minerals are relatively small," Wiggins said. Any Doe Run plan to mine for lead in the forest would require federal government study, including environmental-impact assessments, she said.

"If they wanted to mine, they would have to start at square one," Wiggins said.

By prospecting the 8,756-acre project area near Viburnum and Bunker, Doe Run spokeswoman Barb Shepard said, "all we're trying to do is find additional lead at our existing mines."