The northeastern corner of the USA country of Oklahoma was i time the around productive Pb too zinc mining areas of the world. The metals were discovered hither inwards 1914 , only inwards fourth dimension for the increased demands for ammunitions created past times the First World War. Soon in that place were hundreds of mines too thousands of people toiled nether the solid pose down working for the Picher Lead Company. The town of Picher , along amongst the nearby towns of Cardin too Treece inwards Kansas developed overnight.
At its peak , Picher’ mills processed nearly v ,000 tons of raw ore a day. They crushed the ore into fine grains too melted it inwards giant smelter to filter away the impurities. Only a fraction of the melted ore produced actual valuable minerals. The useless ease , contaminated amongst toxic metals , were piled upward exterior the mines until it created a vii ,000-acre ridge containing lxx 1000000 tons of mine tailings , too 36 1000000 tons of factory sand too sludge. This fine-grained mine tailings known every bit chat , blew all over the town too people breathed them in. When it rained , the runoff from the chat piles got into the local H2O supply.
The master copy street of Picher. Some shops withal convey items displayed at the windows. Photo credit: Jeremy/Flickr
In the 1980s , the authorities launched a cleanup performance to brand Picher livable over again , but fifty-fifty inwards the mid-90s , around two-third of Picher’s children were withal suffering from Pb poisoning. In 2006 , the Army Corps of Engineers discovered that the town was severely undermined past times massive voids that could collapse at whatsoever moment. Based on this study , the authorities gave its in conclusion verdict: Picher was to live evacuated.
The in conclusion blow came inwards 2008 , when a tornado ripped across the town killing viii people too causing extensive damage. Rebuilding Picher was at i break of question. The exclusively alternative left was to larn out it behind.
Picher during its heydays. Photo credit: Randy Lane/Flickr
Photo credit: Jeremy/Flickr
The fine-grained chat piles are unstable too dangerously poisonous , but inwards their ain agency , they are beautiful. Photo credit: Kelly/Flickr
Photo credit: Jeremy/Flickr
Photo credit: Tyson Luneau/Flickr
Photo credit: Tyson Luneau/Flickr