Chatscape
Picher, OK, was a mining town in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, and the area around it was a major producer of lead and zinc in the first half of the 20th Century. At its peak, more that 14,000 men worked the mines in the area, and 4,000 more in mining-related services. Eventually, the mines played out and the last one closed in the late 1960s, leading many people to move away from Picher.
The result of this activity was huge piles of mine waste (chat) in various places in and around Picher. Although not economically viable, the chat piles still had trace amounts of lead in them, and the wind would stir up fine dust particles which the townspeople would inhale. Contaminated water turned the local creek red, and sinkholes began to appear as the abandoned mines collapsed.
In 1983, the Environmental Protection Agency declared a 40-mile (104km) square area around Picher one of the most contaminated areas in the United States. A study in the mid 1990s showed about a third of the children in Picher had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The federal government began buyouts of the remaining residents in 2005, but not all took the offer. In 2008, an EF-4 tornado cut a path through the remainder of the town killing 7 people and destroying many houses; none were rebuilt. In 2009, Picher disincorporated and the school district dissolved, making it a modern-day ghost town. More wildlife than people now inhabit the area, but Picher’s legacy remains. Early in 2015, more than 1,000 migratory birds were found dead in Picher; the cause was thought to be zinc poisoning.
Chatscape
Picher, OK, was a mining town in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, and the area around it was a major producer of lead and zinc in the first half of the 20th Century. At its peak, more that 14,000 men worked the mines in the area, and 4,000 more in mining-related services. Eventually, the mines played out and the last one closed in the late 1960s, leading many people to move away from Picher.
The result of this activity was huge piles of mine waste (chat) in various places in and around Picher. Although not economically viable, the chat piles still had trace amounts of lead in them, and the wind would stir up fine dust particles which the townspeople would inhale. Contaminated water turned the local creek red, and sinkholes began to appear as the abandoned mines collapsed.
In 1983, the Environmental Protection Agency declared a 40-mile (104km) square area around Picher one of the most contaminated areas in the United States. A study in the mid 1990s showed about a third of the children in Picher had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The federal government began buyouts of the remaining residents in 2005, but not all took the offer. In 2008, an EF-4 tornado cut a path through the remainder of the town killing 7 people and destroying many houses; none were rebuilt. In 2009, Picher disincorporated and the school district dissolved, making it a modern-day ghost town. More wildlife than people now inhabit the area, but Picher’s legacy remains. Early in 2015, more than 1,000 migratory birds were found dead in Picher; the cause was thought to be zinc poisoning.