Tar Creek Superfund site is a United States Superfund site located in Picher and Cardin, Oklahoma. Chat piles left behind by the mining companies contain lead dust that has blown around the city. Elevated lead levels in Picher children have led to learning disabilities and other problems. The lead and zinc have also seeped into groundwater, ponds, and lakes, many of which still are used by children for swimming. Since the children of Picher have been found to have elevated levels of lead in their bodies, the EPA has since declared Picher to be one of the most toxic areas in the United States. The Tar Creek Superfund site is the Oklahoma section of three sites that together encompass the Tri-State district. This is an old lead and zinc mining district that was spread across southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma.
Read more about Tar Creek Superfund Site: Origins of The Tar Creek Superfund Site, National and State Intervention, Health and Environmental Hazards in The Tar Creek Region, Remediation Efforts, Documentary Film, See Also
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)