Speaker: Robert Horn --- Bob Horn is a lifelong resident of northeast Oklahoma. He has a BS in Psychology from Oklahoma State University and has worked in financial data processing for 38 years. His home is less than a mile from Tar Creek, one of the most polluted streams in the country. (Sponsored By: Ruth Schmidt)(ID: 1919)
Picher, Oklahoma is often referred to as the most toxic town in America and it is a 21st century ghost town. It is the site of one of the largest EPA superfund sites in the country due to decades of lead and zinc mining that has left the land unstable and contaminated the soil and ground water. The government bought out all the homeowners because it was cheaper than trying to clean up the area. All that remains are empty buildings and huge chat piles. This talk will cover the history of mining in the area, how it became so contaminated, as well as what is being done to clean up the area.
Program: Live and Zoom: Environmental Disaster in the Nation’s Heartland: Tar Creek and the Ghost Town of Picher Oklahoma
Speaker: Robert Horn, BS. His home is less than a mile from the highly polluted Tar Creek.
Introduced By: Ruth Schmidt
Attendance: NESC: 73, Zoom: 30
Guest(s): Michael Lanning
Scribe: Russell Judd
Editor: Ed Nitka
View a Zoom recording of this talk at: Today's Program 102124
The subject of today’s talk was "The Life and Death of Picher Oklahoma" and the speaker was Bob Horn. He stated that he was not a geologist or scientist, and lives nearby in Miami, Oklahoma. Mr. Horn had grown up in Picher, and he was concerned about its future. Originally, Oklahoma was Indian Territory. Picher is a small town near old Hwy. 66 located in the Northeast of the state. Once, eight Indian tribes inhabited the area of Picher.
Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The population of Picher was 14,000 in 1926. Large deposits of lead and zinc were discovered and soon mining was extensive. These mines were very big and deep. A by-product of mining was waste contaminated with lead and zinc. Large piles of this waste (called “chat”) accumulated. Water in the mines needed to be pumped out. There was a growing concern about the contamination of the ground water, and it flows into nearby creeks and eventually the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. Gradually the mines began to shut down. Problems became more apparent. In 1967 people could notice contaminated water coming out of the mines. Lead deposits were seen along the creeks. The creeks sometimes turned orange with the acidic water (see chemical reaction below). In 1994, 34% of the children were found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Giant sinkholes developed in the town because of all the mine tunnels. In 2006, the US Army Corp of Engineers stated that 86% of the buildings there were subject to collapse because of undermining by mine tunnels. In 2008 Picher was hit by a tornado. Most of the inhabitants gradually moved away. Now there are only 13 living there. The water contamination may be elevated for a hundred years. Abandoned and collapsed houses and mines remain. Flooding is exacerbated by the upstream aquifer. The dam there is controlled to maximize recreational opportunity over the needs of the surrounding inhabited communities. This aquifer flowing into Tar Creek and the mines will in the long term promote cleaner water. The diverse community including the Quapaw and other tribes are still trying to influence the government to clean up the area. This talk tells a grim story of what happens with poor fore planning, lack of corporate accountability, and the devastating results to our environment. Tar Creek is the largest superfund site in the country.
Bob Horn acknowledges Rebecca Jim the director of the L.E.A.D. Agency of Miami, OK at http://www.leadagency.org.
More information at:
US EPA: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0601269
Oklahoma Environmental Quality
https://www.deq.ok.gov/land-protection-division/cleanup-redevelopment/superfund/tar-creek-superfund-site/
Ruth Schmidt: Answer to our audience question about what acid is in Tar Creek:
From Oklahoma Environmental Quality Document:
Assessment of Groundwater Flow and Recharge in the Boone Aquifer in Ottawa County, Oklahoma
Rebecca Jim and Bob Horn
