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58-409: The Picher, Oklahoma mines were finally closed in 1967, and the "Swalley" mine near Baxter Springs, Kansas in 1970. Because of extensive toxic environmental wastes produced from these lead and zinc deposits, known as chat , large areas have been rendered uninhabitable and damage has been caused to air, land and water quality. In some areas, such as Picher, Oklahoma , the federal government bought out

116-516: A company town was built and, during the 1950s, it was the Pilbara's largest town. The peak population, as recorded by the Australian census conducted on 30 June 1961, was 881 (601 males and 280 females). During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wittenoom was Australia's only supplier of blue asbestos. The mine was shut down in 1966 due to its unprofitability, and growing health concerns from asbestos mining in

174-563: A handful of holdouts still resides and watches over what is left of the town. Police investigating the Welch, Oklahoma murders of Danny and Kathy Freemen and the murders of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman filed charges containing statements from numerous witnesses and alleged accomplices who stated they had heard rumors that Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman were in a pit or mineshaft in Picher, or had been threatened by Warren Philip Welch, lead suspect in

232-473: A lack of profitability however, the mine at Wittenoom was closed in 1966. As of 2024, more than 2,000 of the approximately 20,000 former mine workers and residents of Wittenoom had died of asbestos-related diseases . As of 2016, Wittenoom had only three permanent residents who defied the Government of Western Australia 's announced intention to remove services, disconnect electric power, compulsorily acquire

290-633: A population of 9,726. Peak population occurred in 1926 with 14,252 residents. The Picher area became the most productive lead-zinc mining field in the Tri-State district, producing over $ 20 billion worth of ore between 1917 and 1947. More than fifty percent of the lead and zinc used during World War I was extracted from the Picher district. At its peak more than 14,000 miners worked the mines and another 4,000 worked in mining services. Many workers commuted by an extensive trolley system from as far away as Joplin and Carthage, Missouri . The population entered

348-478: A steady decline after the peak in 1926 due to the decrease in mining activity, leaving Picher with only 2,553 by 1960. Mining ceased in 1967 and water pumping from the mines ceased. The contaminated water from 14,000 abandoned mine shafts, 70 million tons of mine tailings, and 36 million tons of mill sand and sludge remained as a huge environmental cleanup problem. As a result of national legislation to identify and remediate such environmentally hazardous sites, in 1983

406-648: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Picher, Oklahoma Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County , northeastern Oklahoma , United States. It was a major national center of lead and zinc mining for more than 100 years in the heart of the Tri-State Mining District . Decades of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and left giant piles of toxic metal -contaminated mine tailings (known as chat ) heaped throughout

464-659: The Baxter Springs, Kansas Heritage Center and Museum. In March 2017 the often-photographed Christian church, which was originally a one-room schoolhouse, was also destroyed by fire. Gary Linderman, owner of the Ole Miners Pharmacy, was featured in the May 28, 2007, issue of People magazine in the Heroes Among Us article: "Prescription for Kindness". He vowed to stay as long as there was anyone left who needed him and to be

522-654: The Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The declared contaminated site comprises 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres), making it the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere. The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1930s when mining for blue asbestos began. By 1939, major mining began in Yampire Gorge, which was closed in 1943 when mining began in Wittenoom Gorge. In 1947,

580-655: The PBS Independent Lens film The Creek Runs Red, which discussed the connection of the people and their desire to leave or stay in the city. Picher was also featured in the Jump the Fence Productions film titled Tar Creek (2009). The film was written, directed, and narrated by Matt Myers. Picher was featured in an episode of Life After People: The Series on the History Channel . The aforementioned tornado

638-607: The Panyjima people , have petitioned the Western Australian Parliament to not only remove all of Wittenoom's remaining buildings, but to remediate the land so that it is no longer contaminated. The Wittenoom Closure Bill was passed by the Western Australian Parliament in March 2022, allowing the government to permanently close Wittenoom by compulsorily acquiring the remaining private properties and remove all infrastructure from

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696-771: The Pilbara . The area was originally resided on by the Panyjima, also known as the Banjima, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They hold Native Title over the area. In 1917, the Mines Department first recorded the presence of blue asbestos in the Hamersley Ranges. In the early 1930s, Lang Hancock discovered Wittenoom Gorge, on the Mulga Downs property. In 1937, Hancock showed samples of blue asbestos ( crocidolite ) that he had picked up in

754-514: The Quapaw nation. The show was conceptualized and is being created by Quentin Madia, Lauren Pelaia, and Alex Knezevic, with Knezevic eventually leaving the production on good terms to pursue independent ventures. Prior to the formal creation and writing of the script and music, the production team visited the town of Picher and were toured around by Rebecca Jim. They also interviewed several former citizens of

812-535: The 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the workings to their treatment plant. By 1940, twenty-two men were employed at the Yampire Gorge workings and about 375 tons were mined and transported by mule team wagons to the coast at Point Samson. During World War II , communications with England became difficult, and de Berrales acquired an interest in the mines. In 1943, the Colonial Sugar Company , through its subsidiary, Australian Blue Asbestos Ltd., took over both

870-516: The EPA and the state of Oklahoma agreed to a mandatory evacuation and buyout of the entire township. While some remediation took place in the following quarter century, contamination and other environmental hazards were found to be so severe that the government decided to close Picher and relocate its residents, as reported on April 24, 2006, by Reuters. Due in large part to the removal of large amounts of subsurface material during mining operations, many of

928-450: The EPA and the state of Oklahoma agreed to a mandatory evacuation and buyout of the entire township. A 2006 Army Corps of Engineers study showed 86% of Picher's buildings (including the town school) were badly undermined and subject to collapse at any time. The destruction in May 2008 of 150 homes by an EF4 tornado accelerated the exodus of the remaining population. On September 1, 2009,

986-544: The Gorge to Islwyn Walters and Walter Leonard, who were mining and treating white asbestos at Nunyerrie, and at Lionel near Nullagine. When Hancock learned the fibre would fetch £70 per ton, he immediately pegged the best claims in Wittenoom Gorge. Leo Snell, a kangaroo shooter on Mulga Downs, pegged a claim on Yampire Gorge, where there was a lot more blue asbestos. Walters and Leonard purchased Yampire Gorge from Snell, moved their treatment plant there, and began mining and treating

1044-578: The Pilbara and Regional Development, Jon Ford, said that Wittenoom's status as a town would be removed and, in June 2007, he announced that the townsite status had been officially removed. Both the Department of Health and an accredited contaminated sites auditor reviewed the report, with the latter finding that the detected presence of free asbestos fibres in surface soils from sampled locations presented an unacceptable public health risk. The auditor recommended that

1102-534: The Plan was a commitment to accelerate the cleanup. Since 2015, former residents have held Christmas parades in Picher. Picher is 8 miles (13 km) north of Miami, the county seat. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city had a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km ), all of it land. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,640 people, 621 households, and 417 families residing in

1160-529: The Western Australian Government began in May 2023. Wittenoom was named by Lang Hancock after Frank Wittenoom , his partner in the nearby Mulga Downs Station . The land around Wittenoom was originally settled by Wittenoom's brother, politician Sir Edward Horne Wittenoom . By the late 1940s, there were calls for a government townsite near the mine, and the Mines Department recommended it be named Wittenoom, advising that adoption of that name

1218-467: The Wittenoom and Yampire Mines. Lang Hancock, who watched his station property transform to a town, stated in 1958: "Izzy Walters was the man who stuck it and produced the market that made Wittenoom of today possible." Walter's partner, Len Leonard, put it this way in 1958: "but for his (Islwyn Walters) sheer grit and hard work there would be no such thing as Wittenoom. We have him to thank for that." Due to

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1276-410: The abduction and presumed slayings of the two girls. He admitted having withheld information about the involvement of Warren "Phil" Welch and David Pennington, both of whom have since died without ever having been charged. He was sentenced to 15 years for the crime, with 10 of the years to be spent in lockup. The Oklahoma City sludge metal band, Chat Pile , takes their name from the chat piles in

1334-420: The age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.20. In the city the population was spread out, with 27.1% under

1392-460: The age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 19,722, and the median income for a family was $ 25,950. Males had a median income of $ 22,321 versus $ 15,947 for females. The per capita income for

1450-537: The area was designated as part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, along with the similarly contaminated satellite towns of Treece, Kansas , and Cardin, Oklahoma . In 1994, Indian Health Service test results concerning the blood lead levels of Indian children living on the Site indicated that approximately 35 percent of the children tested had concentrations of lead in their blood exceeding 10 micrograms per deciliter,

1508-415: The area. Wittenoom Gorge Airport served as part of the routes that MMA and Airlines (WA) operated on for bringing workers and supplies in and out of the asbestos mine. It later closed as being one of the health concerns as runways were made of gravel and asbestos tailings. The former townsite no longer receives government services. In December 2006, the Government of Western Australia announced that

1566-657: The area. The discovery of cave-in risks, groundwater contamination and health effects associated with the chat piles and subsurface shafts resulted in the site being included in 1983 in the Tar Creek Superfund site by the US Environmental Protection Agency . The state collaborated on mitigation and remediation measures, but a 1994 study found that 34% of the children in Picher suffered from lead poisoning due to these environmental effects, which could result in lifelong neurological problems. Eventually,

1624-400: The asbestos levels in the town were below the detection level of most equipment, and the real danger was located in the gorge itself which contains the mine tailings . Residents once operated a camping ground, guest house and gem shop for passing tourists. The roof of the gem shop is now caved in and the wood of the guest house is rotten, while the camping ground is nowhere to be found. It

1682-450: The buyouts continued as previously scheduled, with people being assisted in relocation. The city's post office was scheduled to close in July 2009, and the city ceased operations as a municipality on September 1, 2009. By June 29, 2009, all of the residents had been given federal checks to enable them to relocate from Picher permanently. The city is considered to be too toxic to be habitable. On

1740-496: The city to go on a boiled water notice. Staff from the Oklahoma Rural Water Association arrived to assist, since the utility's testing equipment was destroyed by the storm. With an emergency generator to supply power, rural water staff had the system running normally only two days after the tornado struck. Given the existing plan to vacate the city, the federal government decided against aid to rebuild homes, and

1798-665: The city was $ 10,938. About 21.1% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 27.4% of those under age 18 and 30.9% of those age 65 or over. The city was served by the Picher-Cardin Public Schools , which closed in 2009. At that time the municipality was placed in the Quapaw Public Schools . In April 2009, residents voted 55–6 to dissolve the Picher-Cardin school district; it graduated its final class of 11 in May. By 2009

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1856-518: The city's structures have been deemed in imminent danger of caving in. On May 10, 2008, Picher was struck by an EF4 tornado . There were six confirmed deaths, possibly including one child, and many other people injured. The tornado first touched down near the Kansas –Oklahoma border in Oklahoma southwest of Chetopa, Kansas , and tracked eastward. It struck Picher, causing extensive damage to 20 blocks of

1914-410: The city, with houses and businesses destroyed or flattened. At least 150 people were injured in Picher alone. The tornado continued eastward, passing just north of Quapaw and Peoria before crossing Interstate 44 into Missouri . Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry sent National Guard troops as well as emergency personnel to assist the hardest hit area in Picher. Loss of power from the tornado forced

1972-412: The city. There is a musical in the process of being created based on the real story of the town. Titled The Picher Project , the story combines real life people, such as Tar Creek waterkeeper Rebecca Jim and Picher-native, and previous Mayor, Orvile "Hoppy" Ray as well as fictional characters based on actual people in order to properly tell the story of the town and the people who lived there, as well as

2030-481: The city. The population density was 734.0 inhabitants per square mile (283.4/km ). There were 708 housing units at an average density of 316.9 per square mile (122.4/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 77.13% White , 13.78% Native American , 0.18% Pacific Islander , 0.12% Asian , 0.06% from other races , and 8.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.40% of the population. There were 621 households, out of which 30.9% had children under

2088-522: The college's musical theatre organization performing the most recent version of the script for an invite-only audience. The Picher Project has been featured in multiple news articles, including two from The Joplin Globe , KOAM-TV , Four States News , E & E News , and BroadwayWorld . Wittenoom, Western Australia Wittenoom is a former town and a declared contaminated site , 1,420 kilometres (880 mi) north-north-east of Perth , in

2146-521: The country and reduce the incidence of mesothelioma in the future. The Wittenoom Closure Bill was reintroduced to the Western Australian Parliament in August 2021, and was passed on 24 March 2022. The bill enabled the compulsory acquisition and demolition of the 14 remaining privately-owned properties in the former townsite. The traditional owners of country where Wittenoom is situated,

2204-457: The crimes, who told them they would "end up in a pit in Picher like those two girls." Their bodies have never been found, though suspected accomplice Ronnie Dean Busick was arrested in April 2018 for his involvement in the crimes. Busick pleaded guilty July 15, 2020 to being an accessory to first-degree murder in the deaths of Danny and Kathy Freeman, the torching of their home near Welch, Oklahoma, and

2262-580: The district's enrollment had dropped to a total of 49 students from approximately 343 students years prior. Remaining students were assigned to attend Commerce and Quapaw school districts. In 1984, the local High school football team, the Gorillas, won the Oklahoma Class A Championship. A statue of a Gorilla was dedicated as the Picher-Cardin Memorial, Home of the Gorillas. Picher was featured in

2320-453: The federally recognized Native American nation by that name), and Miami, Oklahoma . In 1913, as the Tri-State district expanded, lead and zinc were discovered on Harry Crawfish's claim, and mining began. A townsite developed overnight around the new workings and was named Picher in honor of O. S. Picher, owner of Picher Lead Company . The city was incorporated in 1918, and by 1920, Picher had

2378-460: The fibre. When Leonard cabled London that two miles (3.2 km) of asbestos in sight at Yampire Gorge, they cabled him back saying he should take a holiday. Leonard had to send a photograph before it was believed Yampire Gorge contained that much asbestos. Walters and Leonard cleared the way into Yampire Gorge by blasting the biggest rocks and pulling them out of the way with a camel team. Even after that, it took them seven hours to drive their lorry

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2436-622: The former townsite and other impacted areas defined in the report be classified as "Contaminated - Remediation Required". On 28 January 2008, the Department of Environment and Conservation classified Wittenoom as a contaminated site under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003. However, opinion is not unanimous on the danger posed. Mark Nevill , a geologist and former Labor MLC for the Mining and Pastoral district, said in an interview in 2004 that

2494-467: The last day, all the final residents met at the school auditorium to say goodbye. As of November 2010, it was reported that Picher still had "one business and six occupied houses." Starting in January 2011, almost all remaining commercial structures were scheduled to be demolished. Gary Linderman, owner of the Ole Miners Pharmacy, said he would stay until the last resident left. The municipality of Picher

2552-782: The last inhabitants and the town was disincorporated in 2013. Three large sites in this district have been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as mining-related Superfund sites: the Tar Creek Superfund site in northeast Oklahoma; the Jasper County and Newton County sites in southwest Missouri; and the Cherokee County site in southeast Kansas. In 2019 EPA announced a plan for continued funding of $ 16 million annually for cleanup at Tar Creek. 37°00′N 94°30′W  /  37.0°N 94.5°W  / 37.0; -94.5 This article about mining

2610-546: The last one out of the city. He died on June 9, 2015, at the age of 60 from a sudden illness. Meanwhile, the cleanup continues. On September 17, 2019, the EPA, in cooperation with the state of Oklahoma and the Quapaw Nation, released the Final Tar Creek Strategic Plan to advance the cleanup of the Tar Creek Superfund site. The EPA indicated while great progress had been made, much work was yet to be done, and

2668-458: The level of lead in the blood the Centers for Disease Control considers to be a health concern. In August 1994, to address the threat of lead exposure to children, EPA began sampling soils at high-access areas, such as day cares, schoolyards, and other areas where children congregate. The sampling detected significant concentrations of lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals in surface soils. Eventually,

2726-512: The remaining privately-owned properties and demolish the town. There were still three residents in late 2018 and in September 2022, the last resident was evicted. In November 2006, a report by consultants GHD Group and Parsons Brinckerhoff evaluated the continuing risks associated with asbestos contamination in the town and surrounding areas, classing the danger to visitors as medium and to residents as extreme. In December 2006, Minister for

2784-835: The rest of the town's buildings were scheduled to be demolished by the end of the year. One of the last vacant buildings, which had housed the former Picher mining museum, was destroyed by arson in April 2015. Its historical archives and artifacts had already been shipped to the Dobson Museum in Miami, Oklahoma by that point. Picher is among a small number of locations in the world (such as Gilman, Colorado ; Centralia, Pennsylvania ; and Wittenoom, Western Australia ) to be evacuated and declared uninhabitable due to environmental and health damage caused by mining. The closest towns to Picher, other than nearby fellow ghost towns Cardin , Treece and Douthat , are Commerce , Quapaw (the headquarters of

2842-424: The state of Oklahoma officially dis-incorporated the city of Picher, which ceased official operations on that day. The population plummeted from 1,640 at the 2000 census to 20 at the 2010 census . The federal government proceeded to conduct buyouts of remaining properties. As of January 2011, six homes and one business remained, their owners having refused to leave at any price. Except for some historic structures,

2900-497: The town's official status would be removed and, in June 2007, Jon Ford , the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been degazetted . The town's name was removed from official maps and road signs, and the Shire of Ashburton is able to close roads that lead to contaminated areas. The Wittenoom steering committee met in April 2013 to finalise closure of

2958-524: The town, limit access to the area, and raise awareness of the risks. Details of how that would be achieved were to be determined but it would probably necessitate removing the town's remaining residents, converting freehold land to crown land , demolishing houses, and closing or rerouting roads. By 2015, six residents remained. In 2017, the number had dropped to four, to three in 2018, and to two in 2021. As of September 2022 , Wittenoom had no remaining residents, and demolition of remaining structures by

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3016-409: The town, such as Orville Ray's son. The musical has had workshop performances at Dixon Place, BarnArts, and 54 Below , as well as a virtual performance of a of couple songs using the non-profit theatre company The Dare Tactic to promote the songs and gain feedback on the show. Most recently, on April 30, 2023, Media and Pelaia directed a workshop of the show at The College of New Jersey with members of

3074-411: The town. In September 2022, the last resident was evicted. As of September 2022, the town was classified as deserted, and closed to the public. A bushfire reportedly hit the area around 26 December 2022, causing damage to remaining buildings and disrupting plans to demolish the site during the 2023 dry season. The 1990 Midnight Oil song, " Blue Sky Mine " and the group's album, Blue Sky Mining ,

3132-600: Was also featured on an episode of the Weather Channel's Storm Stories . Picher was also featured in the premiere episode of Forgotten Planet: Abandoned America on the Discovery Channel (along with Pripyat, Ukraine ) in a story of two cities abandoned due to industrial disasters. In April 2015, Picher was featured in a segment on the National Geographic Channel called "The Watch", in which one of

3190-468: Was inspired by the town and its mining industry, as were He Fades Away and Blue Murder by Alistair Hulett . The town and its history are also featured in the novel Dirt Music by Tim Winton . Digital poet Jason Nelson created the work Wittenoom: speculative shell and the cancerous breeze , an interactive exploration of the town's death. It won the Newcastle Poetry Prize in 2009. In

3248-607: Was officially dissolved on November 26, 2013. By March 2014, standing abandoned buildings included the Picher-Cardin High School building, a Christian church, the mining museum, and a handful of mercantile buildings, as well as numerous abandoned houses. The Picher Mining Field Museum, which had been housed in the former Tri-State Zinc and Lead Ore Producers Association building, was destroyed by arson in April 2015. The museum archives had previously been sent to Pittsburg State University , and other artifacts had been sent to

3306-425: Was reported in 2018 that thousands of travellers still visited the ghost town every year, as a form of extreme tourism . The Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR) is a national database that keeps track of information about people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma after July 2010. It records all new cases in order to help the government develop policies about how to deal with asbestos that still remains in

3364-441: Was strongly urged by the local people. The name was approved in 1948, but it was not until 2 May 1950 that the townsite was officially gazetted. In 1951, the name was changed to Wittenoom Gorge at the request of the mining company but, in 1974, it was changed back to Wittenoom. The mine closed in 1966, and the official abolition of the town was gazetted in March 2007. In 1968, Wittenoom was one of only two Catholic parishes in

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