EPA and DEQ were in the process of considering the Town of Hayden as a potential listing as a Superfund site. This would have created problems in the local economy, and the State of Arizona, costing taxpayers millions. ASARCO wanted to step up as a responsible corporate citizen, and felt the degree of cleanup did not constitute a Superfund cleanup site.

The result ended up being a three way agreement between EPA, DEQ and ASARCO that ASARCO would pay for the cleanup, and the effort would be managed by EPA. The agreement was the first of its kind in Region 9 history.