In all civil actions involving claims for exposure or contamination arising from the ownership, maintenance, management, or control of underground hard rock mining or hard rock milling sites that ceased operations prior to January 1, 1975, or such claims that arise from chat or tailings generated at those sites, brought against persons or entities alleged to have owned, maintained, managed, or controlled such sites, chat, or tailings at any time, such persons and entities shall be exempt from punitive or exemplary damages with respect to all such claims that relate in any way to the ownership, maintenance, management, or control of such sites, chat, or tailings, so long as such persons or entities or their employees, agents, owners, parent, subsidiary, or any related companies have made or are making good faith efforts to remediate such sites. Any evidence may be introduced to demonstrate good faith efforts to remediate including substantial compliance with an order or permit issued by or negotiated with either the state of Missouri or the United States concerning remediation or closure. The total of any awards of punitive or exemplary damages shall not exceed two million five hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate as to all defendants in a civil action within this section. The provisions of section 537.675 shall not apply to such action, and one-half of any such awards for punitive or exemplary damages shall be paid into the Missouri lead abatement loan fund established under section 701.337. Nothing in this section shall be construed as precluding any party from pursuing compensatory damages, including claims for natural resource damages.