Former residents say goodbye to contaminated Kansas town

[KansDem]

TREECE, Kan. -- Former residents of a southeast Kansas mining town have said their final farewell, marking the end to a buyout that began in 2009 after the town was deemed to be unsafe because of decades of residual lead and zinc waste.

In the last two years, residents have left Treece after receiving buyouts from the Environmental Protection Agency. The town has been removed from the state map after being disincorporated by the Kansas Legislature earlier this year.

The Wichita Eagle reported that Thursday’s ceremony was part municipal funeral and part celebration.

“I just want to congratulate everyone that had a deal in this buyout, that it went as smoothly as it did and as expediently as it did,” said Bill Blunk, the last mayor of Treece. “Once we found that it was deemed unsafe, the ball started rolling and it didn’t stop until it was finished.”

Millions of tons of lead and zinc mining waste surround the Treece townsite, and sinkholes and uncapped mineshafts are filled with contaminated water.

Treece and nearby Picher, Okla., produced much of the lead that was used for bullets for World War I and World War II.

Kansas City Star

This town was located in the southeast part of the state; the general area of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Imagine: tar sands oil added to lead and zinc waste.

[happyslug]

1. Could be worse, try The Hughes Bore Hole in Cambria County PA

http://www.amdandart.org/program/huges_bore_hole.htm

https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2011NE/finalprogram/abstract_185207.htm


http://www.psiee.psu.edu/publications/newsletters/2008_fall/amd.asp

If you want to see in on Film here it is on youtube:

I can NOT forget Centralia PA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania





http://www.centraliapa.com/


http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm





You do not need to strike a match, just put on on the ground, the ground is so hot the matches catches fire right away:


More pictures:
http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-abandoned-centralia-pa-2012-5?op=1

Film:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-25/fire-still-burns-in-centralia/55213824/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburn

Western Pa is loaded with Acid mine runoff and Coal mine refuse piles, but Centralia is the only active long term coal fire.

Coal Refuse piles (Boney Piles):



Here is the Boney Piles along Blacklick Creek, which the Pa Ghost town Bike Trail goes through:


These boney piles are all over the place in Western PA, these were the product of mining coal.

[KansDem]

2. Thanks for the additional info...

I knew about Centralia.

Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005,[1] 9 in 2007, and 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is one of the least-populated municipalities in Pennsylvania.

Looks like its underground fire has been burning for 50 years!

But I wasn't aware of the others.

[Nihil]

3. At least it's not radioactive ...

This way it will get a post that drops to the bottom of the list and everyone
can forget about it again.

Happy ever after with added unicorns!

[xchrom]

4. du rec. nt