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Picher Weather Right Now


Picher Forecast
Picher-Twister
Tornado Graphics

Picher-Twister
News Reports Archive

May 10, 2008
Tornado Path Graphics

Tornado Deadly Path
National Weather Service

In Memory Of
Red Cross
On-Line Donation

Thanks!
Government Comments
& Formal Statements

Welcome To The
Picher-Twister

Thought For Today
Tornado Victim Information
Poems, Ballads, & Songs
Dedicated To Picher

Picher-Twister
Video Collection

Aerial Images Of Picher
After Tornado

Check Out The Images
Of The Five Supercells

Tornado Path From
Picher To Missouri

National Weather Service
Images Of Picher Damage

Everything
You Need To Know About
Tornados & Your Safety

Funnel Shots
of the Picher-Twister

Aerial Images of the
Picher-Twister Destruction

Picher-Twister
Videos

Picher Tornado
Photo Galleries

The Ballad of
Picher, Oklahoma

The Plight Of Picher
Picher's Past...
Hard Rock Miner

WARDA Victory


Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
President Bush Statement

Details By The Numbers

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
In Memory & Dedication

Special Recognition To City

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
NWS Aerial Picher-Twister Images

NWS Picher Images

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree

NWS Radar Images Of Supercells

NWS Tornado Track That Hit Picher

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree

Tornado Myth's & Safety Info

Tornado Safety

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tar Creek Website

Picher Oklahoma Geneology

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Rocklahoma Benefit Concert

Picher News Up-Dates

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Date Sensative News

Picher Weather Right Now!

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tornado Survivor's Advice

Guest Book & Comments

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Advice To Tornado Victims

Susan Murphy Picher Video

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
FEMA Disaster Recovery Center

Disaster Food Stamps Offered

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
SBA Disaster Assistance

Disaster Programs & Referrals

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
In Memory Of Those Who Lost Lives

Extended Care Help Offered

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Comments From Officials

Complete Tornado Information

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Thanks Police, Fire & Rescue Dept's

Thanks Picher City, Fire & Police

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tornado Locator Map A

Tornado Locator Map B

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Welcome To The Picher-Twister

City Council & School Board Issues

Photobucket
Veteran Tornado Survivors Advice

Local Help For Survivors

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Will Picher Rebuild?

Now, Some Won't Even Try

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Former Picher Teacher Recalls

2 Mothers Protect Their Kin

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tornado Done What Gov. Couldn't

EPA Testing Lead After Tornado

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Son Has His Own son!

Joe Don Comes To Help

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Rascal Flatts' Joe Don

Storm Prediction Ctr. Tornado Chart

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Bush Grants Disaster Declaration

Henry Tours Tornado Damage

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Henry Requests Disaster Help

White House Approves Request

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Governor Statement Released

State & Federal Vowed To Assist

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Elderly Assistance Offered

Looter's You Are Not Welcome

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tornado Victims Housing Available

Overseas Reports Picher Disaster

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Speed Of Storm Cut Warning Time

Picher Deaths Reported

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
State Confirms Deaths

ODEM Updates Storm

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Complete Devistation In Picher

Area Hospitals Treat Victims

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
State Reveals Identified Deaths

Happy Mother's Day To Me

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Outreach Begin For Tornado Victims

Area Students Help Cleanup

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
20 Killed, 100's Injured May 10

ODEM Situation Update

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Gives Others Extra Minutes

Numbers Add Up To Tragedy

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
The Hand Of God Was On Us

Picher Debre Scattered Over Region

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Bush Was To View Picher Disaster

Double Loss To Mother

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Shelter From The Storm

Picher Sited In Federal Disaster Aid

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Quapaw Tribe Donates 25 Grand

Seneca-Cayuga Donates 10 Grand

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
EPA Checking Lead Levels In Picher

FEMA Keeps Joplin Location

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Farmer's Hit Hard By Tornado

Tornado Reminds Life Is Fragile

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Source Of Violent Storm Outbursts

Tornado Details In Detail

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Storm Rated By Fujita Scale

Tornado Scale Details

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Prepare Your Family

Understand When Watch Is Isued

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Severe Weather Watchers

Civil Defense & State Police

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Media Helps Public Stay Informed

Everyone Inside The Storm Area

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
The Deadliest Tornado

Longest Path Of A Tornado

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Strongest Winds Reported

The Number Of Tornados & Storms

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Storms & Tornados Detected

Tornado Safety Rules

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Debris Around Region Returned

Flying Debris Landing All Over

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Live Videos Of Picher-Twister

Picher's Son Jerry Couch Honored

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Fire Chief Recounts May 10th

Picher Offered Free Cleanup


CNN Hero Tad Skylar Agoglia Helps Picher

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Federal Disaster Assistance

$8 Million Extra For Buy-Outs

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher & Cardin... School's Out!

FEMA Aid Center Opens

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Tornado Promps Buyout Questions

Pray For Picher

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher's Tornado Felt Evil'

Picher's Past Hard Rock Miner

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Jerry Coach Day, The Last Party

Picher Residents Ready To Move On

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Inhofe Surveys Picher Damage

Pollution Brings Picher To The End

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher, Oklahoma Is Dead

More Storms Headed This Way

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picking Up The Pieces

Children Stressed About Storms

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
It Just Started Falling From The Sky!

4 Year Old Survives 2 Block Toss

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Photos Found In Springfield

Town Clings To Ole' Picher Days

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Families Copes With Tornado

Families Survive, Picher May Not

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Residents Paid To Get Out

Tetanus... Ain't Just Nails Anymore

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Mediacom Cable Leaves Picher Hanging

Picher Shafted By Uncle Sam?

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Survivor Relives F4 Tornado

Services For Tornado Victims Set

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
100's Of Homes Lost & Destroyed

Sinking Feeling Growing In Picher

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Pain, With No Tomorrow

State & Federal Officials Visit Picher

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Deadliest Tornados In History

FEMA's Chertoff Comes To Survey

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Henry, Boren, & Inholfe Come

Residents Line Up At Recovery Ctr

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Quick Actions Slowed Tornado

Song Captures Picher's Buyout

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Poem By Connie Morgan' Mother

Poem By Connie Morgan's Uncle

Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Photobucket
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree
Picher Tornado - May 10, 2008, Photo by Terry G. Hembree


TMZ - You NewsTV

Picher-Twister Anniversary FYI & Comment

With today being the one year anniversary of the tornado that struck Picher, I am personally saddened that the Mayor of Picher chose to not have any time of monument or remembrence to the lives lost, or even that the disaster even happened.

"There will be no memorial service or marker remembering the seven people who died that day... Most people are just trying to go on and put it behind them as quickly as possible,” said Tim Reeves, Picher Mayor."

Be assured that I repeatidly made attempts to Mayor Reeves to place such a dedication to the Picher residents and he would not return my calls or emails. I offered to donate a nice sign to place on the property where the apartments stood adjacent to the Highway 69 entering Picher.

I would have not cost anyone one cent, I didn't feel that I could have erected such a memorial as I suggested without the cities approval.

I will continue my dedication here to each and every one that was effected by the Mother's Day Tornado of 2008

If anyone has property located in Picher were we could erect such a tribute... Please contact me and we will get a much deserved sign in place.

Thank you & our prayers are with each of you on this sad day of remembrence

Please email: terryghembree@att.net or phone 918 786-1824
The Terry Gene Hembree Family, May 10, 2009

TRIBUTE TO OUR HOMETOWN... "PICHER FOREVER" VIDEO

NOTICE

Welcome to Your' Official Picher-Twister Website
I have a wealth of information, articles, images & videos in this special Picher-Twister Website
Please be patient & give the page plenty of time to load, go fix you a snack or drink
& come back prepared to review this very special presentation

The Official Memorial Tornado of May 10, 2008 Website

Dedicated to Picher, Oklahoma
It's Residents & The Victims Of The Worst Oklahoma Disaster Of The Century.

May God Bless Each & Every One Of You
The Terry Gene Hembree Family

( When you see the first tornado spinning below you are ready to go unenterupted )


Click On This Line Of Text To Go Direct ToThe Current Picher News

Jesus said: "Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice,
and no one takes your joy away from you"
John 16:22

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider; God has made the one as well as the other"
Ecclesiastes 7:14

"The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory of Christ, after you have suffered a little while,
while Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast"
1 Peter 5:10

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will come to you"
Matthew 11:28

"Don't store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen.
Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value"
Matthew 6:19-20

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds"
Psalm 147:3

"In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me"
Psalm 86:7

"Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the
crown of life which God has promised to those who love him"
James 1:12

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you.
I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand"
Isaiah 41:10





How Long Has It Been Since The 2008
"Picher-Twister"
Killer Tornado Hit Picher, Oklahoma?
ONE YEAR...



The Picher -Twister Website
Terry Gene Hembree, Esquire
Honored

Owner and creator of the Picher-Twister Website and his "Project of the Heart," Terry Gene Hembree, Esquire
was recently honored for his numerous gestures to help the victims of the May 10, 2008 Tornado that hit Picher, OK
A State of Oklahoma Citation was presented to Hembree for his efforts in creating this Website for the Picher families, for his Toy Give Away to the Picher children, Providing Signage to Picher business owners that are still in business, providing a 24 Hour Picher-Twister Hot Line to help keep the families informed and other countless attempts to aid the families of Picher.
Assorted Honor's were to Hembree presented by the following...
Citation from The State of Oklahoma Governor via Governor Brad Henry
Citation from The United States Congress via Congressman Dan Boren
U.S.Flag flown over the Unites States Capital in dedication to Terry Gene Hembree via Congressman Dan Boren
Citation from The United States Senator via Senator Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
The State of Oklahoma Representatives & The United States Senate via Representative Douglas Cox, Senator Charles Wyrick and the House Speaker
Hembree was also honored with recognition from The White House via U. S. Senator James Inhofe
Hembree was also honored with recognition from the
The American Red Cross for his numerous efforts to assist during the disaster in Picher
The Geographical Association gave special recognition to Hembree on his work on the Picher-Twister Website and his williness to provide information to the Geographical Association teaching tools, publications and website.

Photo By Helicopter Advantage


Picher Quick-Links

"A Tribute To Joe Don Rooney"
Picher's Own Son & The Pride of Picher... Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts

Picher Tornado Project - May 10, 08 Massive Super Cell Graphics - Tornado Debre Travel
Picher's May 10, 2008 Tornado Destruction Told Around The World
Tad Agoglia, First Response Team Of America & Disaster Recovery Solutions Is Picher's Hero!
Picher Weather Right Now!
Please Consider To Make A Donation To The Red Cross On-Line
Your' Official Picher-Twister Website
Picher Tornado Information Picher-Twister Immediate Debre Cleanup & Search
Tornado & Thunderstorm Information & Safety
Picher-Twister Funnel Shots Picher-Twister Just After (1-10)
Picher-Twister Tornado Photo Gallery (11-20) Picher-Twister Photos (1-7)
Picher-Twister Aerial Images (1-3) Picher-Twister Photos (1-3)
Tar Creek OU4 Superfund Site Record Of Decision Documents
Picher Buy Out Picher Superfund Site
Tar Creek Documents Picher Mining Field Picher-Twister
Tar Creek Documents: Letters, Picher Mining Field Evaluations, Mine Glossary
Picher Demographics The Creek Runs Red Documentary Lead Facts

Picher Documents, News, Articles & Press Releases By Year
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
2002 2001 2000 1982

Picher Editorial Cartoons Picher-Twister Videos

Click Here For Picher Oklahoma Genealogy
Stuff About Picher
"Town Meetings Volume 1" by Lynda Ramsey Martinez
"Picher Schools" by Lynda Ramsey Martinez
"50 Years Of Memories" by Lynda Ramsey Martinez
"Hard Rock Legacy" by Lynda Ramsey Martinez
CD's Are Also Available
Mining Memories by Mark Kershner
"The Pain of Picher" Lyrics by Sara McCormic
Buck Rambo "Through It All"

Details Of That Fateful Evening Of
May 10th, 2008 In Picher, Oklahoma

On Saturday, May 10, 2008
A strong storm system moved across Kansas Saturday, producing strong wind shear aloft.
As this system approached, tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico moved into Oklahoma.
This combined with daytime heating to produce a very unstable atmosphere.
Storms rapidly developed Saturday afternoon and became super cells.
These storms went on to produce numerous tornadoes as they moved east at 35-45 mph.
On this Saturday evening at 5:20pm this killer tornado struck Picher, Oklahoma
Turning what was once the mining capital of the world into piles of unrecognizable rubble
The following day was Sunday, May 11, 2006... Mother's Day 2008

The "Picher-Twister" Official
Tribute & Memorial Website
Dedicated To The Residents Of Picher, Oklahoma
Past, Present & Future
"Where The Gorilla Pride Lives!"


This Picher-Twister Official Memorial Tornado Website
Was researched, designed, created, hosted and daily updated by Terry Gene Hembree
In cooperation with the City of Picher, Oklahoma & it's residents
In Loving Memory of the lives lost, injured & property destruction due to the May 10, 2008 Tornado
In Dedication to the Picher Spirit, Pride & Determination
within each Home Owner that have Stood Strong Together as a body of One
A Special Thanks to the local & national news media
along with the public that offered an insight into this tragic event of May 10th, 2008
May God Bless Each & Every One Of You!
Terry Gene Hembree & The Terry Gene Hembree Family Trust


Click for Forecast for 74360 from weatherUSA.net

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Click Here To View Comments Concerning The Picher Twister

Check Out One Of Our New Photo Galleries By Clicking Photo Below... Enjoy!

pichertornado


The Latest News, Articles & Press Releases
will be listed from the Latest News continuing down to the May 10, 2008 Picher-Twister
This will be a complete archive concerning Picher's devistating tornado & it's results
Up to today's most recent Picher related news articles and information, Enjoy!
& Now For The Latest Picher News...

......LATEST NEWS & INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PICHER-TWISTER ......YESTERDAY. TODAY & TOMORROW!


The City Of Picher Closes

September 1, 2009

PICHER — City offices in the mining-scarred town of Picher are set to close Tuesday, as most of the final few-dozen residents left make plans to leave the blighted area.

Shuttering City Hall will mostly be a formality, since the northeastern Oklahoma town has been fading for months. The schools closed in July, and most of the Main Street businesses are already gone.

Picher lies in the middle of the Tar Creek Superfund site, a 40-square-mile expanse of former lead-and zinc-mining towns that extends into Missouri and Kansas.

Under a $60 million federal cleanup program, homeowners and businesses in and around the town have been bought out over the past several years, and the buildings will eventually be bulldozed.

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The City Of Picher Closes

August 31, 2009

PICHER, OK -- The Picher City Hall is closed for good. As of 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon, the community is without basic services.

Between pollution concerns, a Superfund buyout, and last year's deadly tornado, the once thriving mining town is a shell of its former self.

"There will always be memories here. I'm sure I'll bring the kids over. Still show them where we used to live.

Where this used to be and where that used to be," said Quapaw firefighter Clint Epperson.

A few stalwarts, like a Picher pharmacist, are trying to hold on as long as they can.

He says he's still breaking even, but each month is harder than the one before.

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Picher City Hall Is Closed For Good

August 28, 2009

PICHER, OKLA. - For the town of Picher, Oklahoma Monday was the last day for City Hall to be open before workers close the doors for good.

The town of Picher is almost empty. If you listen closely you can hear the buzzing of action in Gary Linderman's store.

Linderman says some Picher residents still come to pick up medication at the Old Miner's Pharmacy, but the numbers are slowly dwindling.

"There might be a decline - there is a decline," Linderman says. "It is much more noticeable now."

Since a tornado leveled homes in May 2008 and federal buyouts have sent some Picher residents packing, Linderman has lost 20% of his business.

Down the street, what was once the Picher Fire and Rescue is now the Quapaw Fire and Rescue.

Clint Epperson was a firefighter for Picher for nearly a decade, and now works under Quapaw. He was a lifelong Picher resident until the tornado destroyed his house.

Now, Epperson reflects on the end of his hometown.

"It's sad - it's a sad time," Epperson tells us. "I think that anybody who actually lived in Picher and was involved in the community, would of not wanted to grow up in any other town."

"It's sad in a way because I am so used to the employees coming here on their lunch break for refreshments on their breaks and everything," pharmacist Gary Linderman says.

"(Was) really vibrant," Epperson says. "Picher did a lot to help out in the war, a lot of mining, it was a big community."

Epperson says he will come back to visit but knows he has to move on as the town of picher is slowly becoming extinct.

"We got to make the best of it because there is nothing we can do to change it," he says

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Nearby Town, Tribe Discussing Proposal For Picher Well

August 28, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — The city of Quapaw and the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma are working on proposals to buy one of the city of Picher’s water wells to continue to provide service to remaining households in Picher.

A special Picher City Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

Mayor Tim Reeves said about 50 remaining households are awaiting federal buyouts or are planning to stay in Picher.

The well that is being discussed is Well No. 5, south of the city near Highway 69, Reeves said.

The city of Quapaw wants the well as a backup, but it would continue its operation for service to Picher residents, he said.

The Quapaw Tribe also wants water service to continue in Picher, Reeves said.

The cost of the 680-foot-deep well was financed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency, he said.

About $400,000 remains on the loan, and it would be assumed by the purchasing entity, Reeves said.

Reeves predicted that when the buyout wraps up, between six and a dozen households will remain in Picher and will need water service.

“There will still be people wanting a buyout, and there’ll be some people who won’t leave,” he said.

The city’s other well will be capped, Reeves said.

Quapaw Mayor Neal Watson said the Picher well could serve as a backup in case of an emergency.

Although a proposal has not been completed, he said, city officials are working on a cooperative agreement with the Quapaw Tribe.

Tim Kent, environmental director for the Quapaw Tribe, said discussions are in the preliminary stages.

“The tribe has not made a formal offer; it’s still being discussed,” he said.

A lot of the city of Quapaw is on tribal land in trust with the U.S. Department of the Interior, he said.

He said the tribe envisions establishing a wildlife refuge or a wetlands in the Picher area.

That proposal, Kent said, is a long-term vision once all of the chat, waste gravel from the mining era, has been removed.

“Once that chat is gone, we could turn that land into something of an asset,” he said.

The tribe also is proposing assuming control of the Picher streets in order to control access to the area.

“We don’t want meth labs showing up,” Kent said.

With cities facing water shortages, Kent said, the water in underground mines could be treated and supply a water source to cities, if the Environmental Protection Agency would build a treatment plant, he said.

Several options are being considered for good stewardship of the land in Picher, he said.

“That land was given to the tribe by the U.S. government,” Kent said. “You can buy all the individuals out, but the land still belongs to the tribe.”

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Treece Gets Grant For Storm Siren

August 28, 2009

WASHINGTON — .U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced a $15,750 grant to help purchase a storm siren for the city of Treece.

Senator Roberts toured Treece in June 2008 and heard from many residents and local leaders about the need for a new storm siren. Roberts encouraged the Kansas Rural Development Office to invest in this public safety project.

As of an EPA visit last week, Treece did not have a storm siren even though its neighbor across the border, Picher, Okla., had been destroyed by a tornado.

“I am pleased USDA is funding this critical project for a community in need,” Senator Roberts said. “With Picher shutting down, Treece will lose its closest first responders so it is especially important to get early warning of dangerous weather.”

Roberts, along with Senator Brownback and Congresswoman Jenkins have been fighting to relocate the residents of Treece. USDA local officials have indicated the storm siren may be moved and relocated to another community should the residents of Treece be bought out and moved.

The funds were awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Office’s Community Facility Grant Program.

The county will contribute $4,830 for this project, and Bingham Sand and Gravel will contribute $420.

With the USDA funds, the total project costs are $21,000. Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

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Treece To Get Siren, Place In History

August 26, 2009

As the town of Treece awaits word on whether the Environmental Protection Agency will buy out and move its last 100 or so residents, both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Kansas State Historical Society are taking an interest.

A USDA grant will allow the town to install a tornado siren to replace the warnings that used to come from the adjoining city of Picher, Okla., which the federal government has already bought out and shut down.

And if Treece ultimately follows Picher into oblivion, as residents hope, a state historian will be trying to preserve the town's history for posterity.

Like Picher, Treece was once a prosperous mining town.

But a century of production left it dangerously undermined and surrounded by abandoned shafts, flooded cave-ins and mammoth piles of lead- and zinc-contaminated mine waste known as chat.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has pushed for the EPA to move the residents away from the hazardous conditions.

Sarah Little, an aide to Roberts, said he doesn't want to see the federal government spend a lot of money in Treece but considers the storm siren an exception. It's needed for the immediate safety of the townspeople and can be moved if the town is bought out, Roberts' office said in a statement.

"With Picher shutting down, Treece will lose its closest first responders, so it is especially important to get early warning of dangerous weather," Roberts said.

Longtime Treece resident Denny Johnston welcomed the plan to put in a siren.

"Well, good deal, we need one," he said. "We always listened for the one in Picher. I remember hearing it the day that Picher got blown away."

Six people were killed in the twister that hit the south end of Picher on May 11, 2008.

The USDA will provide $15,750 toward the new siren through its Rural Development Office. Another $4,830 will come from Cherokee County and $420 from Bingham Sand and Gravel, a local business that mines and transports chat for disposal in asphalt and concrete.

The $21,000 project cost is about equal to Treece's annual city budget.

And if Treece does go away, state historians want to make sure it's not forgotten.

Donna Rae Pearson, collection development specialist for the state Historical Society, said she plans to visit the community to record some of its history and heritage and its struggles with pollution and the EPA.

She said towns like Treece are of particular interest because their experiences illustrate population loss and other issues that many rural communities face.

But in a lot of small Kansas communities that have gone away, there was no repository for the local history.

"All we have is a dot on the map and we don't know much about it," she said.

She said state historians don't want that to happen to Treece, and "we've decided to take a proactive approach."

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Help Comes To Treece

August 26, 2009

Three Kansas Congress members have enlisted a powerful ally and identified what they think might be a source of money to buy out the contaminated community of Treece.

Kansas Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback and Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, have dispatched a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson asking for $3 million for a Treece buyout from funds being returned to EPA from a Washington state cleanup site.

The three have teamed up before to try to get Jackson to approve a buyout for Treece. The newest letter also carries the signature of Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the ranking minority member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

As chairman of the committee when the Senate was under Republican control, Inhofe pushed through legislation authorizing the buyout of Picher, Okla., which is just across the state line from Treece and shares the same environmental hazards.

Both Picher and Treece thrived for a century as centers of mining for lead, zinc and other minerals.

But when the ores petered out and the last mines closed in the early 1970s, the communities were left surrounded by hundreds of acres of contaminated waste gravel known as chat. The landscape is dotted with cave-ins and sinkholes, and both towns were extensively undermined, creating a threat of ground subsidence.

Roberts aide Sarah Little said the senator's office staff has been working with Inhofe's staff to try to get Treece the same kind of deal that Picher got.

"They said they'll do whatever they can to help us," she said.

Jenkins aide Mary Geiger said Inhofe "brings another powerful voice to this issue."

"Congresswoman Jenkins thinks that having Sen. Inhofe's support greatly strengthens her and Sens. Roberts' and Brownback's efforts to secure a buyout for Treece," she said.

Last week, three top EPA executives toured Treece and fielded questions from residents who are near unanimous in their desire to move out.

Officials estimate it would cost $3 million to $3.5 million to buy out the last 100 or so residents and consign Treece to history along with Picher.

In their letter, the Congress members said they think they may have found the money to do that.

They quote from a news report that an EPA cleanup project at the Wyckoff-Eagle Harbor Superfund site on Washington's Puget Sound is expecting to return $3 million to the EPA because of delays in reaching agreement with the state's Department of Ecology.

"If EPA does in fact decide to reallocate the $3 million in Superfund funds we would request that EPA consider reallocating the funds" to Kansas, the letter said. "Specifically, the money would be used for relocation assistance in Treece, Kansas. The properties in Treece are in danger of being destroyed and the health of the occupants are at risk."

The Picher buyout was approved by the EPA's regional office in Dallas, but didn't extend past the state line because Kansas falls under the Kansas City, Kan., regional office.

Kansas City EPA officials say they have removed tainted soil from the yards in Treece, eliminating the main source of exposure, particularly for children who are at the greatest risk for lead poisoning.

The EPA has a 10-year project under way to reclaim the land around Treece, but residents complain that the emptying of Picher has cut them off from jobs, commerce, recreation and public services, leaving their town unsalvageable.

They also complain of dust clouds kicked up by the EPA's trucks and bulldozers, although EPA officials say they are working hard to control the dust and that the air-quality health threat is minimal.

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Picher Set To Close But City Services Must Continue

August 26, 2009

It's known as 'The Town that Jack Built'. Jack being the zinc ore, found in Picher.

However, Picher has been slowly dying and is set to close Tuesday.

The town of Picher is scheduled to close its doors September 1st.

About 100 folks call this home and they say they cannot be forced to leave.

Steven Ray says, "Growing up in the golden 50's and 60's. America was good, life was good." He grew up in Picher and remembers a better time.

He says, "The town has been torn down from misinformation." Despite the town being flooded, contaminated, and nearly blown away, Ray says he has a right to stay.

A 1998 government report claims nearly a quarter of the kids in Picher were at risk of brain damage because of the lead. 82 year old John Mott was born here and worked with the EPA.

He says, "I've seen so many children. It just breaks me up. So many children didn't have a chance."

The town is scheduled to close next week. However, John Sparkman is the head of the Picher Housing Authority.

He says, "No one's utilities are going to be shut off. It is my understanding that we have the town and tribe of Quapaw both interested in purchasing the water system."

Some homeowners may need to install septic systems.

However, vital services like electricity, gas, and water can't be stopped while people are still living in the town.

Sparkman adds, "We all knew this day was coming and its almost here."

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Officials Say Picher Is Expected To Shut Down On September 1

August 26, 2009

PICHER, OK-- The city offices in the mining-scarred town of Picher in far northeastern Oklahoma are set to close next week.

Mayor Tim Reeves says the town is expected to shut down on September 1 and that there will be no city government after that. The last group of Picher residents are preparing to move from the Ottawa County community.

About 50 families and three businesses are left in Picher. City officials in nearby Quapaw say an agreement between that town, Picher and the Quapaw Tribe is being negotiated that would provide water service to Picher's remaining residents.

Larry Roberts, the trust operations manager for the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, says the town of Cardin also is expected to shut down soon.

Cardin and Picher both are located within the Tar Creek Superfund site.

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OETA Story on End of A Town - Picher, Oklahoma aired on 07/01/09 - More related videos from Asterpix


Oklahoma’s Senior U.S. Senator, Republican Jim Inhofe Puts The Brakes On More Than $135,000.00 Of Federal Money

Editorial

July 15, 2009

According to an Ihofe aide, the Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to hold $135,494 that was destined for the Picher Housing Authority courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In short, $135,000 of stimulus money was headed to the nation’s fastest-shrinking housing authority. Only 19 of the PHA’s 54 housing units have active water accounts with the city.

Picher, home to the Tar Creek Superfund site, has been under a $60 million voluntary buyout program to move residents out of the contaminated, undermined area. That program will conclude this year.

Sending capital improvement money to a town that’s trying to get rid of its residents is truly a case of throwing cash down a hole in the ground. A big one.

The Picher Housing Authority is trying to reinvent itself in the nearby Ottawa County town of Fairland, where there is a proposed $8 million housing project with 78 units. The authority’s director said none of the stimulus money was to be spent on existing Picher housing, but on other affordable units in the county.

The problem is that the PHA didn’t have a plan. The money came to Picher via a formula that gave stimulus money to public housing authorities across the country. That included Picher, even though the housing authority had no plan for the cash.

It would have been easy for Inhofe to look heroic if he spotted $100,000 going to a pointless project in another state, albeit a grain of fiscal sand on the stimulus beach. He could easily have blamed the ineptitude of the federal government, or the party in power or the White House gardener while taking bows for being the citizens’ watchdog. Meanwhile, his own constituents could have been enjoying the all-you-can-spend buffet.

Commendably, Inhofe didn’t do that. He took a more politically difficult path by cutting off cash that was headed to his home state.

The $135,000 isn’t much money in the scheme of the economic recovery plan. It won’t even cover one-fourteenth of the proposed development in Fairland. But credit is due to any legislator who is watching the purse strings, especially if he’s willing to blow the whistle on a bad expenditure that would benefit his own constituents.

We have no doubt that the Picher Housing Authority will find an appropriate use for the money and we hope Inhofe and the cooperative people at HUD will not hesitate to write the check when there is a practical plan in place. Until then, having our money where someone can keep an eye on it is a pretty good idea.

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He Was The Last Man Standing

“There’s not any point in thinking about it, because there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it"

July 15, 2009

If you’ve ever had to move, you know that it can be very expensive. Boxes, tape, packing material, help moving larger items, moving van rates, gasoline - it all adds up very quickly. Then there’s the deposit or down payment on a new place. You wouldn’t be alone if you have ever sought help from pay day loans and personal loans to deal with such an undertaking.

But what happens if you’re forced to move because your entire town is being condemned? That’s exactly what happened to Orval “Hoppy” Ray in Picher, Oklahoma. He was the last resident to leave the town in the wake of many years of lead and zinc mining that have left Picher, OK one of America’s largest, most polluted toxic-waste sites.

Poisoning generations

John Sutter eloquently reports for CNN that Picher, Oklahoma was a center of lead and zinc mining for many years (until 1970) before there were many environmental safety requirements that mines had to follow. As a result, children of Picher suffered lead poisoning as the local creeks coughed up orange water, a cocktail of heavy metals. Plus, homes were built atop mine shafts. Now those abandoned mines are in danger of collapsing. Orval Ray was the last resident to leave.

There were signs of things to come. Back in 2006, the federal government announced it was going to pay people to leave Picher, Oklahoma and the nearby Tar Creek Superfund Site. That would leave room for the government to execute its toxic-waste cleanup program. They told people that their homes could collapse into the stained earth.

Aiding the war effort

Bienvenidos a Miami, Oklahoma, Sr.Ray

Some were happy to take the money and run, but old timers like Ray, 84, wouldn’t leave without a fight. He claimed he’d die first. He’d worked the mines with his dad and brothers, mining lead that was turned into bullets for U.S. soldiers in both world wars. But once the wars were done and the last mine shut in 1970, Picher, Oklahoma began its slow slide into the grave. A recent tornado also played a significant role in making Picher what it is today.

“I thought it was important that people ought to know what Picher’s role was in two world wars,” Hoppy said. “Hell, to me, it was important. … Without the mines here in Ottawa County [Oklahoma], those wars would’ve lasted a lot longer.”

Time to go, dad

Ray’s son insisted that his father move to Miami, Oklahoma. It was only 10 miles south of Picher, but for Hoppy, it was like moving a world away. Unfortunately, there was no other option. The house he’d lived in for nearly 50 years had been slated to be condemned.

Sutter writes that “outside Picher, the mining town’s former residents are branded ‘lead heads’ and ‘chat rats.’ People wonder whether living in the polluted area made them stupid.” Hoppy has heard it all before.

Starting again

“There’s not any point in thinking about it,” he said, “because there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it — just break out, go someplace else and start all over again.”

Goodbye, Picher, Oklahoma. You served your country admirably. Unfortunately, it didn’t do the same for you. Now everyone has moved on, hopefully toward happier, healthier days. Days where you can get pay day loans and personal loans if you need them.

Yet in his dreams, Hoppy envisions the old days when Picher was a vibrant place. Ghettos of ghost towns are all that remain now. For more of Ray’s recollections, read Sutter’s article. It grants a small glimpse into an America that is dying. The bones of small towns are everywhere. If that means something to you, read the article.

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Inhofe Places Hold On Funds Awarded To Picher Housing Authority

“What’s that going to stimulate... It doesn’t make sense to send over $100,000 up there to a place that we are closing down.’’

July 8, 2009

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday that he has placed a hold on $135,000 in stimulus funds awarded to the Picher Housing Authority because of plans to demolish the facility located in the Tar Creek Superfund site.

An opponent of the massive federal stimulus law that the Obama administration promotes as key to economic recovery, Inhofe sees the funds the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided the Picher Housing Authority as just another example of the package’s flaws.

“They are just cranking money out to different areas … without going through and seeing if it is money well-spent,’’ Inhofe said, adding he does not blame John Sparkman, the head of the Picher Housing Authority.

“It is almost like they had this pot of money they got to get rid of,’’ he said.

Inhofe aide Ryan Jackson said HUD verbally has agreed to honor the senator’s hold on the Picher money.

Jackson said HUD also placed a restriction on the funds to bar their use on existing housing units.

Inhofe said he wants that from HUD in writing but also expressed concerns over any plans to put the money in reserve for a future authority.

“You just don’t sit on a block of money and decide what you are going to do with it later,’’ he said.

Instead, Inhofe said, he would prefer an approach that identifies needs for future housing in the area followed by a new application to justify the spending.

“That’s how I hope government would work,’’ he said.

Picher Housing Authority was awarded $135,494 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, said Patricia Campbell, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fort Worth, Texas, office.

The HUD funds are designated for capital improvements, but the Picher housing program gets smaller with each month.

Picher Housing Authority residents are included in a federal buyout of undermined homes and businesses in the Tar Creek Superfund site. The $60 million, voluntary buyout is expected to conclude this year.

Only 19 of the 54 housing units have active water accounts with the city of Picher, said city clerk Carolyn Elmore.

HUD awarded the money to Picher Housing Authority as part of a formula grant also used to dole out stimulus funds to public housing programs across the United States, records show.

Picher Housing Authority has until March 17, 2010, to determine how to allocate the money, Sparkman said.

“At this time the PHA does not have a plan in which to apply these funds,” the authority’s executive director said. “Any plan will need to have HUD approval. Please note that none of these funds will be spent on the existing Picher Housing Authority units. Our goal will be to apply these funds toward affordable housing units in Ottawa County.”

A tentative plan to move the housing program to Fairland has the blessing of HUD officials. The idea of relocating the program to Fairland was reported in March.

Picher Housing Authority has submitted a proposal to begin the process of shutting down the authority as a first step to opening a new housing complex in Fairland, which is also in Ottawa County about 15 miles south of Picher.

The $8 million project to relocate the authority’s housing complex will provide 78 environmentally friendly and energy-efficient housing units in Fairland. That is the same number of units that existed in Picher before numerous units were closed down due to undermining.

Fairland Mayor Andy Krebs said his town remains hopeful that the Picher housing program will be relocated to Fairland.

“We remain interested but there are details to be worked out,” Krebs said.

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Bill Would Buy Out Residents Of Treece

Contaminated Treece, Kan., begs for an Environmental Protection Agency buyout

July 8, 2009

Bingham Transportation of Baxter Springs, Kan., has a lease to haul mine tailings from an Oklahoma Indian reservation property southeast of Treece, Kan., for construction use across the U.S. (June 24, 2009)

Bradley Blake gives friend Trevor Lasiter a ride on his cycle past the Treece City Hall.

Mining history has left town changed forever

The fate of Treece, Kan., contaminated by heavy metals, may now be decided by Congress.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, has introduced a bill to spend $3.5 million in federal money to buy out and move the last 100 or so residents of Treece.

The top official at the Environmental Protection Agency may visit Treece to view the damage, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday.

The town, once a thriving center of lead and zinc mining, is now surrounded by hundreds of acres of contaminated waste, plagued with soil and water pollution and threatened by sinkholes from abandoned and flooded mines.

Jenkins said she became frustrated after she and Kansas' two senators, Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, were unable to convince the EPA to fund a buyout for Treece from federal economic stimulus money.

"I'm urging them to use some of the $25 million (in stimulus money) that's already going to the area," Jenkins said.

Roberts said he applauds Jenkins' efforts in the House, and said he's also committed to pursuing all options to "help residents of Treece protect their families and move to a safe area, free from contamination and subsidence."

The EPA did buy out the adjacent community of Picher, Okla. While Picher and Treece are both part of the Tar Creek Superfund site and separated only by the state line, they lie in different EPA administrative regions.

The Dallas regional EPA office approved the Picher buyout, but the Kansas City, Kan., regional office has resisted doing the same for Treece.

Kansas City EPA officials say they removed most of the health risk to Treece nine years ago when they tested all the residential properties for lead and replaced the soil in about 40 contaminated yards.

Now, they say, Treece's problems are primarily economic and social, which are outside EPA's authority.

Jenkins said her bill would specifically authorize EPA to buy out Treece.

"Obviously, if it was good enough for the people of Picher, Okla., the same solution should be given to the residents of Treece," Jenkins said. "Picher and Treece are practically the same community.

"It wouldn't be so frustrating if we weren't caught in the limbo of two EPA regions," Jenkins added. "Having two different sets of rules just seems absurd."

EPA press secretary Adora Andy said the agency has no stance on Jenkins' bill, but "evaluates all Superfund sites on a case-by-case basis, with close coordination between the headquarters and the regional offices."

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson recently visited Kansas City, but declined an offer from Roberts to take a tour of Treece.

Still, Roberts said he's had a "constructive dialogue" with Jackson and her staff.

"She has personally assured us that the situation in Treece is something she wants to learn more about and I hope she accepts my invitation to visit the area to see it firsthand," Roberts said.

Andy said Jackson's schedule was packed during her recent trip, but that she "would certainly consider such a visit in the future and understands the importance of viewing firsthand the impacts of environmental contamination."

'Kind of good news'

In Treece, Tonya Kirk — a longtime area resident who was recently elected to the City Council — called the introduction of Jenkins' bill "kind of good news."

Kirk spent the last week helping her sister-in-law, who got an EPA buyout in Picher, move to nearby Commerce, Okla.

Kirk said life has become increasingly difficult with Picher — the closest economic center — essentially shut down.

Kirk said her family would need enough of a buyout to pay off the $23,000 debt remaining on their mobile home, plus enough for a down payment on a home someplace else. The $42,000 her sister-in-law got would cover it, she said.

"We know we're not going to get rich off a buyout," she said.

Treece Mayor Bill Blunk said he watched the EPA spend about $12,000 trying to seal his niece's home in Picher against lead contamination. When it didn't work, the agency bought her out for $30,000 and razed the house anyway.

"To me, that (cleanup effort) was a waste of money," Blunk said. "I don't want to see that happen here."

Complicating matters is that, because of the pollution and the Picher buyout, banks won't lend money for people to buy, fix up or refinance a home in Treece. Blunk said that has forced the community into a rapid and unstoppable decline.

"I'm not trying to step on anybody's toes," he said. "I just want them (EPA officials) to come down here and see how we have to live our everyday lives."

EPA officials have said that there are some significant differences that justified buying out Picher but not Treece.

Both communities are surrounded by huge piles of gray contaminated mining waste known as "chat." But Picher's chat piles are much larger and were more interspersed with the community's living area, officials said.

In addition, unlike in Treece, the Picher chat is of a consistency that can be cleaned and used as gravel in asphalt and concrete. Emptying the town of people makes it easier to put in haul roads so the chat can be brought to a central area for processing and shipment, officials said.

In Treece, the plan is to relocate the chat from small piles to large piles that can then be capped with clay and topsoil. Areas cleared of chat will ultimately be usable for farming and ranching, and the capped piles will resemble native grassland, the agency says.

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Picher's Best Still Has Roots In Oklahoma

Yankowski starred at NEO, Kansas State before NFL career.

July 7, 2009

Ron Yankowski (left), a former football standout for Picher High School and the St. Louis Cardinals, played 10 seasons with the Cardinals after a college career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Kansas State.Courtesy

Ron Yankowski slipped on a pair of boxing gloves and got the soup knocked out of him.

It's a feel-good story with a feel-bad start.

"I got beat up pretty good, and that was about the last time I boxed anybody," Yankowski said. "I said, 'This is not for me.' "

Yankowski found his niche in another sport.

He became a football All-American and national champ at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, an All-Big Eight defensive tackle at Kansas State and a 10-year NFL player with the St. Louis Cardinals. He settled in the St. Louis area and was thrilled to see his old franchise — now the Arizona Cardinals — finally reach a Super Bowl.

Now you know the answer to a trivia question: Whatever happened to the most famous athlete Picher High School will ever produce? Applications are closed. Picher's last graduating class received caps and gowns in May.

"There are not a whole lot of people left in that little old place any more," the 62-year-old Yankowski said.

"It was kind of blown away with the tornado, and they've got other disaster stuff down there, but I am really fortunate. I went to a small school there and I'm really happy I got the chance to go to NEO. Going to NEO more or less jump-started my career, so I don't have anything but good things to say about them."

Yankowski was born in Massachusetts, where his father has roots. While in the service, Dad snagged a wife from Oklahoma. "The Oklahoma in her said 'I'm going home and you're coming with me.' That's what I was told," Yankowski said. "So they came on back home to Miami and lived there in Cardin."

Yankowski served in the Army Reserves after high school. He returned home and — why not? — decided to try Golden Gloves boxing. Meanwhile, former Picher quarterback Doug Matthews had moved on to NEO and told Yankowski the Norsemen needed linemen. A football coach showed up to watch Yankowski box.

Yankowski got decked a couple of times. The coach, impressed that Yankowski kept getting up, offered books and tuition if Yankowski would try out for the football team. He made it, plus some. On May 16, 2009, Yankowski was inducted in the NEO Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Cardinals have been less than a model NFL franchise, recording only three winning seasons from 1977-2007. But Yankowski, who played from 1971-80, contributed to good times. He played on Cardinal squads that won 10 or more games in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Yankowski credits the success to draft choices rising to the occasion and coach Don Coryell laying down the law.

"One thing he said that I thought was good was, 'We've got about five pro ball players here that will make it every year. The rest of you guys are average or below. If we can get you to play up over your ability, we are going to win.'

"And that's what kept us going. To me, that was my whole life. I had to get better every year. No matter how good you think you are this year, next year somebody is going to beat you out. That was the one thing I thought was an inspiration for me and all my teammates."

Later, the Cardinals' coach was Bud Wilkinson, architect of 47 consecutive victories at the University of Oklahoma. Wilkinson had two losing years with the Cardinals and was let go.

"I think he didn't have all the people he really needed there at that time," Yankowski said.

"He had to pick up people that were there and we were not playing well and, coaching-wise, things just didn't work out. To me, you have to work hard, and our practices slacked off at that time. I'm not saying this was his fault, but it seemed like practice was easier and everything else. And football is not easy. You've got to work at it. I think that was more or less our downfall from then on."

Yankowski said owner Bill Bidwell treats old St. Louis players well and makes them feel like part of the family.

"I'm still a Cardinal fan," Yankowski said. "I haven't changed. Even though the Rams are here and I love to watch the Rams, the Cardinals are still my team and they always will be."

Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal. And Yankowski also said he will always be a Gorilla and a Norseman and a Wildcat, too.

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Monday Marks The End For Picher's Post Office

Officials are working to keep water and utilities on for a handful of families that remain.
The last day for the post office was on Monday.

July 6, 2009

Picher will most likely stop all operations on September 1st

PICHER, OK -- After decades of lead and zinc mining, Picher, Oklahoma, is disappearing little by little. The nation's largest EPA Superfund site has rapidly decreased after the town suffered from pollution problems. Now, the few remaining businesses are closing their doors. On Monday, the United States Postal Service closed.

"I was born and raised here. Yeah, it's sad. It's very sad to go look at homes that some of your family lived in that have passed away and it's all rubble," said Donna Captain.

Picher was, at one time, a thriving small town. It is now virtually a ghost town. As one by one, people pack up and move due to a federal buyout of homes. The school graduated its last class this year. A tornado last year helped speed up Picher's demise.

After The Storms: May 10, 2008

"It's kind of a sad day, of course, because people are coming to realize that the town will cease to exist so it's kind of a sad day," said John Sparkman.

A few people came to check their post office boxes one last time on Monday. The post master kept the doors open through lunch as some came in to find out how they could continue to get their mail.

Picher residents will still be able to get their mail delivered to their house. But, Cardin residents will have to come over to the housing authority where they have the collection box units to get their mail and to send mail.

Jo Crossland has lived in Picher for 76 years as of July 5th, her birthday. She didn't realize the post office was closing.

"Not till today when I read the sign on the door," said Jo Crossland.

"It's terrible. It's a terrible way to say goodbye to Picher. It's very terrible," said Donna Captain.

So, as the American flag flies over the Picher Post Office for the last time, Picher residents say goodbye and hold on to what they can.

"What do you do? You just take it and you have your memories and that's all you can do," said Donna Captain.

Dave Lewin spoke for the post office and says the closure is difficult for them as well. He says because so much of the population has left, they are left with no other option.

The majority of Picher will have rural mail delivery and others will have to go to Miami or Commerce for post office services.

Lewin also says the Picher Post Office employees will be placed at other locations.

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Picher Packing It In

Hoppy Ray, 84, was among the last people to leave the toxic town of Picher, Oklahoma.

PICHER, Okla. — Hoppy Ray was surprised when he watched the story about his life in Picher on CNN’s Web site.
“It kind of surprised me,” Ray said. “I didn’t expect them to do all that. But it was nice.”

July 3, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Hoppy Ray was surprised when he watched the story about his life in Picher on CNN’s Web site.

“It kind of surprised me,” Ray said. “I didn’t expect them to do all that. But it was nice.”

During a town reunion last month, a film crew with CNN visited Picher and filmed Ray, age 84, in his museum. A story, a timeline, photos and a video accompany John Sutter’s June 30 report: “Last man standing at wake for toxic town.”

The site is www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/30/oklahoma.toxic.town/index.html.

Also appearing in the video is Rebecca Jim, an environmental activist who has been involved with public-health issues in the Tar Creek Superfund Site for many years.

“They came down the day of the Picher reunion (June 13),” Jim said. “It was a sad story. And, they didn’t let me say the one thing I kept saying to them, and that is Congress needs to reauthorize the Superfund law so that the polluter pays for these cleanups.”

The story focused on Ray’s reluctance to leave Picher and how his son secretly moved him out of Picher into a dwelling 10 miles away in Miami.

David Ray, the son who moved him out, said: “I had to play dirty pool when he was out of town. I moved out everything while he was gone. When he came back to his apartment, I told him, ‘You moved.’

“Boy, was he pissed off... totally. I had two choices: It’s his way, and it’s his way. There was not much wiggle room on that.”

Jim said: “Hoppy, well, he saved face. He did not do it. Someone else moved him. That was the kindest way to do that. His son just did it, and that was it. But, he was still the last man standing.”

Said Hoppy Ray: “I went to pay the utilities. I was gone for a couple of hours. When I turned the door key, there wasn’t a damn stick of furniture left in the apartment. That teed me off for quite some time.”

Ray’s museum remains in Picher.

The ever-defiant Ray said: “It’s not going anywhere if I can help it. There’s too much history there.”

Picher is continuing to shut down as the state, with federal money, buys out the last remaining residents. The population may be under 50. A couple of years ago, the town had a population of more than 700 people.

A spokeswoman for the Picher post office said the office will close Monday. Plans call for the closing of city offices in September.

And on Tuesday night, graduates of the Picher-Cardin School District marked both the end of the school system, which closed Tuesday, and the return of Bobo, a concrete statue of the school district’s gorilla mascot.

The statue was sold to a Conway, Mo., resident last month when the school district put much of the remaining property up for auction. Local residents rallied to buy the gorilla back, and it was returned Tuesday. It ultimately is to be donated to a museum.

Treece proposal

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., has introduced federal legislation that would authorize a buyout of Treece, Kan., because of dangers posed to residents from past mining operations.

“One hundred years of mining near Treece has left the approximately 100 residents with toxic soil, dangerous conditions and no hope of rebuilding,” Jenkins said in a news release. “While I appreciate the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to clean up Treece, I am convinced cleanup is not sufficient.”

Treece is just north of Picher, Okla. Jenkins said in the release that residents of Treece and Picher were victims of virtually the same circumstances.

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Picher-Cardin's Gorilla Statue Is Back Home

Hoppy Ray, 84, was among the last people to leave the toxic town of Picher, Oklahoma.

Former Picher-Cardin cheerleaders Christina Long (top) and Lauren Harding celebrate the return of their school's mascot after Dave Marlin (left), who bought the gorilla statue last month, returned it to the community Tuesday.

July 3, 2009

PICHER — About 1,000 former Picher-Cardin High School students and friends turned out Tuesday night for a bonfire and rally to welcome their school mascot back home, even as they bid their school goodbye.

"It's just like an old high school football bonfire that we would have had before the Commerce or Quapaw games," said Kyleigh Garrett, a former cheerleader who graduated in 2001.

The 90-year-old Picher-Cardin school district graduated its final class of seniors in May. Its remaining 50 students will go to the Commerce and Quapaw school districts next year.

"Families from all across the country that previously lived in Picher were at the bonfire," Garrett said. "There were people here from Dallas, Illinois, all over."

The 20-foot-tall bonfire, made up of logs and wooden pallets, was at the four-way stop downtown. Those in attendance were wearing red and white Picher Gorillas T-shirts.

The gorilla statue, which had stood at the school as the athletic teams' mascot until it was sold in a school auction June 14, was returned to Picher just before the event

Dave Marlin of Conway, Mo., bought the statue for $2,500 but decided to return it to the community after learning how important it had been to the students.

He sold it to Jodi Morgan, a 1994 Picher graduate, for an undisclosed amount.

Emotions ran high and tears flowed when Marlin pulled up with the statue in the back of his truck.

Along with the gorilla, he brought a huge ice cream freezer and gave homemade ice cream to the crowd.

A cookout had been held before the bonfire was lit. Former band members played the school song and other pep rally songs, and cheers were chanted. Former coaches and players, including Willie Ng, who was the quarterback for the 1984 football team, which won a state title, made speeches.

Morgan said she bought the gorilla statue for her husband for Father's Day and that the couple plan to find a permanent place for it in Oklahoma.

Residents voted 55-6 in April to dissolve the Picher-Cardin school district.

The combination of a federally funded buyout of Picher residents and businesses and last year's tornado, which killed seven people and ravaged 20 blocks of the town, led to the demise.

Picher officials say they expect the town itself to close by about the first of September.

Picher — along with North Miami, Commerce, Quapaw and Cardin, in northern Ottawa County — is part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Tar Creek Superfund site.

Tests in the 1990s showed that Picher children had lead poisoning, and a 2006 Army Corps of Engineers study showed that the abandoned lead and zinc mines underneath Picher, Cardin and Hockerville had a high risk of caving in. That led to the buyout.

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Jenkins Introduces Legislation to Fund Treece Buyout

Hoppy Ray, 84, was among the last people to leave the toxic town of Picher, Oklahoma.

Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX

July 2, 2009

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins last week introduced legislation to authorize the federal government to buyout Treece, Kansas, due to dangers posed to local residents by the Cherokee County National Priorities List Site.

"One hundred years of mining near Treece has left the approximately 100 residents with toxic soil, dangerous conditions and no hope of rebuilding," Jenkins said. "While I appreciate the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to cleanup Treece, I am convinced a cleanup is not sufficient."

In April, Jenkins joined Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback sending a letter to EPA Acting Administrator Lisa Jackson asking the agency to direct economic stimulus funds to help Treece residents relocate. EPA responded saying instead of using stimulus funds for a residential buyout, the agency instead plans to use them for remediation of mining wastes and cleanup efforts.

Treece is located approximately one mile north of Picher, Oklahoma, which received federal buyout assistance due to similar dangerous conditions caused by the Tar Creek Superfund Site. After receiving a letter from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment asking for support and assistance securing federal funding, Jenkins introduced legislation to fund a similar buyout for the Treece community.

Jenkins continued, "Treece and Picher are victims of virtually the same circumstances, and the residents in Treece should have the same relocation assistance as those in Picher. I will continue to work with folks in Treece, and I am hopeful the House will consider this critical legislation."

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Man Holding Onto Picher History Featured On CNN.com

Hoppy Ray, 84, was among the last people to leave the toxic town of Picher, Oklahoma.

84-Year-Old Orval “Hoppy” Ray... Picher had left him behind... It was time to go... He was moving to Miami, a town just 10 miles south.

July 2, 2009

PICHER, OKLA. - If the world is trying to forget Picher, Oklahoma, it first needs to get by Orval "Hoppy" Ray.

Hoppy says he never wanted to move out of Picher. But one day while he was eating at his favorite restaraunt his son moved all his belongings down to Miami.

But you can still find Hoppy in Picher nearly everyday.

In his half museum-half pool hall, Hoppy can recount the entire history of Picher, Oklahoma.

The good:

"So many people on the streets we could barely walk up and down the sidewalks. You would have to turn sideways to get up and down the crowd."

The bad:

"From 1912 to 1917 the Klu Klux Klan were the top dogs."

Empty streets of Picher
The heroes:

"We had just hundreds of men give their lives for the war effort here in Picher."

Hoppy's knowledge of Picher is so outstanding, for a short time on Tuesday his story made the front page of CNN.COM: 'Last man standing' at wake for a toxic town

"Well, the phone rang and it was a lady that I eat breakfast with on Sundays - and her sister had called her and told her that CNN had picked up the story. And they picked me up and I went over and looked at it. Oh it was alright. It didn't bother me too much."

Hoppy says he enjoys the noteriaty but simply hopes the memory of Picher continue on even after he is gone.

Hoppy focuses on the good times Picher had: "it was the lead and zinc captial of the world" and "it had the best school system in the state of Oklahoma."

He ignores warnings of the city's health hazards.

Asked if he thinks chat is harmful, he simply answers "no".

However, many disagree and have moved on.

But Hoppy hasn't.

"Well, I don't have any friends left. All the guys I run around with, gee whiz - every time I pick up the obits and my name is not in there it just makes my day. 'Cause the rest of them are gone."

Covered in foreclosure and condemnation, standing alone is Hoppy's museum featuring pictures and old mining gear from the community's history.

Hoppy says he acquired some of the historic memorabilia, by trading them for free games of pool.

"They have already killed the town. It's done. But the least they could do is put up some sort of monument."

But with no monument in sight Hoppy will have to do for now.

"It will be around for years for people to see what was here and how they worked and what they looked like."

He'll be keeping the memories and the music of Picher, Oklahoma alive.

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Hoppy Ray... Last Man Standing’ At Wake For A Toxic Town

Hoppy Ray, 84, was among the last people to leave the toxic town of Picher, Oklahoma.

84-Year-Old Orval “Hoppy” Ray... Picher had left him behind... It was time to go... He was moving to Miami, a town just 10 miles south.

July 1, 2009

Wearing powder blue pants and a plaid fedora, 84-year-old Orval “Hoppy” Ray arrived fashionably late to a celebration in Picher, Oklahoma, a vacated mining town at the center of one of the nation’s largest and most polluted toxic-waste sites.

Former residents, bought out by the government because their town was deemed so dangerous, gathered in Picher’s elementary school to say farewell to a place where kids suffered lead poisoning, where homes built atop underground mines plunged into the Earth and where the local creek coughs up orange water, laced with heavy metals.

A toothpick dangling out of the corner of his chapped mouth, Ray greeted several old friends as if he were in any other small town in America.

“Hello there, Hoppy! How the hell are ya?“ one called out.

Gray mountains of toxic gravel loomed behind the school, just out of sight, as Hoppy hobbled past a bundle of balloons and through the front doors, cane in hand. He tipped his hat as he entered.

“Looks like a good crowd,“ he said. “Everybody seems to be havin’ a good time... That’s the main thing.“

In a town this tragic and for a person as stubborn as Hoppy, that’s a big statement.

As his abandoned town fades to dust, Hoppy has gone into the business of memories. He wants to remind townspeople, and the world, that a person’s home should always be loved... no matter how toxic.

Hoppy didn’t understand what all of the fuss was about.

It was 2006, and the federal government announced it would pay people to leave Picher and the Tar Creek Superfund Site, which is part of the government’s toxic-waste cleanup program. A report had found that much of the area was at risk of collapsing into the extensive lead and zinc mines.

The buyout plan was seen as a blessing by some scared families.

But not Hoppy.

Hoppy swore he wouldn’t leave his hometown, that he would die before he’d leave Picher, even if his electricity and water were turned off.

He’d grown up there, worked in the mines alongside his father... and all three of his brothers. But Picher was more than a place to make money. It was a place of patriotism and purpose: The metals they dug out of caves deep in the ground were processed and turned into bullets that armed U.S. soldiers in both world wars.

The wars ended, though, and so did the world’s interest in Picher. By 1970, the last mine shut down.

Hoppy’s family stayed.

They couldn’t leave a place that had threaded itself into their lives so deeply.

After making a quick stop in the crowded school cafeteria, Hoppy found a more suitable post on the sidelines of the reunion, in a narrow hallway.

He sat in a chair with a smirk on his face, using his cane to ping friends in the shins, or sometimes in the groin, to get their attention.

“This here’s the last man standing,“ one man said, chuckling, as he stopped by Hoppy’s seat.

Hoppy’s son and grandson arrived with several cardboard boxes of books, pulled from the bed of the old miner’s pickup. With the help of another local-history buff, Hoppy has self-published three books. The latest, “Just Call Me Hoppy,“ chronicles his memories of a pre-toxic Picher, a time he believes everyone else has forgotten.

The book begins in 1925, when the mines were at their peak... and the year Hoppy was born.

At 17, he left Picher to fight in World War II. After he was injured when his Navy ship was hit by a suicide bomber, Hoppy returned home to finish high school and go to work in the mines.

In those years, Picher was a bustling town with neon signs “like Las Vegas,“ Hoppy recalled.

When the mines slowed down and money was tight, Hoppy hustled billiard tables at a pool hall downtown. When the mines shut entirely, he bought the pool hall and hung on its walls some of his dad’s mining gear: a kerosene lamp, a helmet.

The items puzzled kids who came into the Pastime Pool Hall. What were the mines like? they asked Hoppy. What did they mine for, anyway?

Shocked by the younger generation’s ignorance, Hoppy became a collector. He asked the kids to bring in mining memorabilia. In exchange, he’d let them shoot a few rounds of pool for free.

“I thought it was important that people ought to know what Picher’s role was in two world wars,“ Hoppy said. “Hell, to me, it was important... Without the mines here in Ottawa County [Oklahoma], those wars would’ve lasted a lot longer.“

Hoppy’s book details Picher’s patriotic spirit, its sense of purpose during the wars. But it mentions the Superfund buyout only in passing and never explains that the town is toxic. It doesn’t say that four of Hoppy’s great-grandchildren tested for high levels of lead in their blood. They are among the victims of Picher’s toxic legacy.

Hoppy figures the world hears plenty about all that. He’d rather focus on the Picher he loves. The walls of his pool hall... the sign in the window says “Hoppy’s Museum” ...are now papered with photos and artifacts.

Neighboring buildings are boarded up, their windows broken, the paint peeling. Tree-size weeds crack the sidewalks.

Hoppy’s pool hall breathes life into this abandoned place, where only a few people still live. On Monday nights, he opens the doors to local musicians. When he goes home, he leaves a single bulb lit over the door.

It’s the only light on the street.

One morning, about two weeks before Picher’s June 13 reunion, Hoppy’s son moved his dad out of town while Hoppy was at his favorite restaurant eating breakfast.

Hoppy was furious.

“I unlocked the door ... and I didn’t have a stick of furniture,“ he said. He stood in the entryway in disbelief.

David Ray showed up behind his dad, bearing the news that Picher had left him behind. It was time to go. He was moving to Miami, a town just 10 miles south.

Hoppy remains bewildered by the situation. He lies awake at night in his new home. He tunes the television to a country-music station and blares familiar songs to try to lull himself to sleep.

On the rare instances when that has worked, Hoppy has dreamed of a pre-toxic Picher. He sees packed movie theaters and bar fights.

He sees the people from the photos on the walls of his pool hall, all of whom are gone.

Some mornings, Hoppy leaves breakfast and drives to his old home instead of his new one in Miami, as if he’s on autopilot.

His house in Picher, the one where he lived for nearly half a century, is tagged with yellow spray paint: TBCD.

To be condemned.

Why is moving just 10 miles away so devastating?

Outside Picher, the mining town’s former residents are branded “lead heads” and “chat rats.“ People wonder whether living in the polluted area made them stupid.

Like any downtrodden group, Picher residents once found strength in numbers, in their insulated community.

Now they must find their way in a larger world... a world they don’t fully understand, one that understands them only as the products of a toxic town.

It’s no wonder they seek solace in memories.

From his post in the hallway at Picher’s wake, Hoppy sold $300 worth of books... not enough to cover costs but enough to leave him satisfied.

His night was cut short when the muscles in his chest seized up.

He had two heart attacks in recent weeks, and doctors said the stress was getting to him.

Hoppy’s son told his dad he was “out of gas.“ It was time to go.

Hoppy’s family loaded his unsold books back into the bed of his pickup, and the old miner drove down empty streets to a still-unfamiliar home.

He says he moved to Miami “under protest.“ But he’s easing to the idea a bit.

“They told me they were gonna move me to Miami,“ he joked, “and I said, ‘Over my dead body, you will!‘ “

He continued, changing tone: “ ‘Oh, well,‘ I said, ‘I’ve been dead from the waist down now for 10 years anyway.‘ “

He has found purpose by resurrecting Picher’s untold story... at the pool hall, at the reunion and through his books.

He’s not happy about having to leave his home. But he’s no longer the stubborn man who couldn’t dream of the world beyond Picher.

“There’s not any point in thinking about it,“ he said, “because there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it... just break out, go someplace else and start all over again.“

The walls in his new living room are still bare. But he has ordered two 6-foot-long murals of Picher, photographs of the town in its heyday.

The mountains of gravel waste were smaller then... and growing. For Hoppy, the photos capture a town on the upswing.

He went to Picher’s wake expecting it to feel like a funeral.

He left with a sense of relief.

And afterward, for the first time in weeks, he slept through the night.

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Dying Town's Residents Hoping For Buyout

Our Town Is Dying...Help!

Jun. 28, 2009

TREECE, Kan. (AP) -- Almost everyone who lives in the tiny southeast Kansas community of Treece knows there's not much of a future here. With help from Sen. Pat Roberts, the 100 or so residents are hoping the federal government will buy them out like it did for Picher, Okla., just over the state line.

But the Environmental Protection Agency believes problems in Treece can be fixed and there's no need for the government to move anyone.

Treece is a former mining community that experienced decades of prosperity before taking a steady path toward becoming a ghost town.

The ground beneath the town has been undermined for metals, and its landscape is dotted with cave-ins and uncapped shafts that are filled with brownish water that is unfit for human consumption.

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Contaminated Treece, Kan., Begs For An Environmental Protection Agency Buyout

TREECE... Mining history has left town changed forever... And you know the sun's settin' fast... And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts... "Our Town"

Jun. 28, 2009

With a shining past and a troubled present, just about everyone agrees this town has no future. A century of mining that built this southeast Kansas town and brought decades of prosperity is long since over, leaving a legacy of heavy-metal-tainted water and soil, surrounded by a lunarlike landscape of gray mine waste.

Even the ground beneath the town can't be trusted; the tiny city was extensively undermined for the metals and the landscape is pocked with cave-ins and uncapped shafts filled with brackish, brownish water that's unfit for human contact.

About 100 survivors hope the federal government will buy them out and settle them elsewhere, as it did with neighboring Picher, Okla.

They have a powerful ally in Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who is prepared to file a bill in Congress if the Environmental Protection Agency won't spend stimulus money to buy out Treece.

But EPA officials say they've removed most of the environmental hazards from the residential area.

While they sympathize with the plight Treece finds itself in, they say they're not legally empowered to address what are now primarily economic and social problems.

• • •

I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.

I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul ...

Most of the people here are descendants of the miners and have lived with the pollution all their lives.

Many would probably have been willing to ride it out while the EPA conducts a 10-year cleanup. But the desertion of Picher has been a body blow to Treece.

The Picher school district laid off almost all its employees and auctioned off everything -- chairs, desks, football uniforms -- two weeks ago. The Post Office closes July 6; City Hall on Sept. 1.

The loss of Picher's jobs, shopping, recreation and public services has rendered Treece unsalvageable, said Mayor Bill Blunk, who has been in office nearly 10 years and expects to be Treece's last mayor.

"If I could afford it, I'd move tomorrow," Blunk said. "I see no future. If they don't buy us out... my term will be up in 2011 and I don't think we'll be incorporated at that time."

The average Treece home is worth $10,000 and the city budget has dwindled to $25,000. City Hall is open only six days a month so residents can pay water bills.

Ask just about anyone here what the last good thing to happen in Treece was and the answer is a long pause and an are-you-kidding-me look.

The mayor's no exception. Finally, he recalls the pumping of the city's sewage lagoon in 2004.

For the past decade, Blunk has been holding things together as well as he can. When the City Hall yard needs mowing, he mows it. Ditto for the banks of the sewage lagoon.

It's a labor of love, more than anything else. He's paid $1 a year.

"You try to get residents to help out by cleaning their own alleys," he said. "Some do, some don't. If we get hit with a hard, heavy repair bill, something I can't do myself, we'll be in trouble."

• • •

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.

But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes ...

Treece sits atop what was once a rich body of lead and zinc ore stretching beneath the corners where Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri meet.

From 1850 to 1950, the 2,500-square-mile mining region provided half the zinc and 10 percent of the lead produced in the United States, according to a 2008 Cherokee County Restoration Plan.

The big mining companies primarily used a process called "room and pillar," which involved digging out room-size holes underground and leaving similar-size pillars of ore to hold up the roof.

That created huge piles of spent ore covering hundreds of acres surrounding Treece and Picher.

Most of it is called "chat," crushed, contaminated rock ranging from face-powder-fine to gravel-size particles.

Eventually, the ore began to run out and the big mining companies moved on.

Around the 1950s, they were replaced by "gougers," who would go underground to scrape out the last of the ore, much of which was in the pillars.

The mines were generally below the water table and had to be pumped constantly to keep from flooding. The last of the pumps were turned off in the early 1970s.

Now, no one knows exactly what is beneath Treece and how many of the pillars have been compromised.

And the flooding created another hazard.

Where shafts were uncapped or mines caved in, the water came to the surface.

One large cave-in northwest of Treece became a popular swimming hole. Kids would return from swimming with reddened skin, usually assumed to be sunburn.

"What it is is the chemicals in the water.... Those kids didn't have any idea what they were swimming in," said Denny Johnston, a longtime resident and local expert on sinkholes who recently guided Roberts on a tour of the town.

As Treece's buildings and trailers were abandoned, a criminal element began to squat in the ruins.

At one point, the city had 17 illegal methamphetamine labs, although it was able to shut them down with help from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department, Blunk said.

Vandalism is a problem. Vacant lots are filled with broken glass, and the few remaining street signs are marred with graffiti.

The town is dotted with burned-out buildings and trailers, overgrowing with vegetation.

City Clerk Pam Pruitt said she had asked the firefighters from Picher to let them burn to the ground because there's no money to clear lots and haul away wreckage. But the firefighters said they had to put the fires out, she said.

On Main Street, Johnston recalled what Treece used to be, pointing out two former grocery stores, a movie theater and at least three bars and restaurants.

All are gone. The only active business is a tiny shop where Charles Moreland and his wife, Jean Ann, salvage and regroove used tractor-trailer tires.

As the couple work, their 3-year-old daughter, Acey, keeps them company, blowing bubbles to amuse herself.

Charles Moreland, 45, has lived his entire life in the Treece area. He owns 22 pieces of property, most of which he inherited from his father.

His wife worries that if a buyout comes, they will drift apart from extended family, most of whom are in Treece.

"We wanted to raise her (Acey) here, but with everything closing down, it doesn't look like that's going to happen," she said.

She pointed to her husband. "He's ready to go," she said, as he nodded.

"I'm ready to go," chimed in Acey.

• • •

Go on now and kiss it goodbye,

But hold on to your lover,

'Cause your heart's bound to die ...

A recent study by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimated it would cost $3.5 million to empty Treece of people, and Roberts is pressing the EPA to spend federal economic stimulus money to do that.

When EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visited Kansas City last week, Roberts invited her to tour Treece. She declined.

Roberts said the EPA's cleanup plan for Treece is a waste of taxpayer money. Trying to cap the sinkholes and shafts, some hundreds of feet deep, is akin to "throwing a fancy oriental rug over a hole in the floor," he said.

People both north and south of the state line face the same risks from pollution and cave-ins, Roberts said. He said the only difference is a political divide.

Oklahoma is in the jurisdiction of the EPA's Dallas office, which approved the Picher buyout. Kansas is regulated through the EPA's Kansas City office, which opposes buyouts for Treece.

Except for signs on the highway saying "Leaving Kansas, Come Again" and "Welcome to Oklahoma, Native America," the two towns are indistinguishable.

In fact, most of the deeds in Treece show the properties were originally platted as part of Picher, until a 1918 survey moved the state line a couple of hundred yards.

Roberts said he wants to work with the EPA to buy out Treece. Failing that, he said, he's prepared to try to work a bill through Congress.

EPA officials on both sides of the state line said they could not respond directly to Roberts' complaints. But they did say significant differences justified buying out Picher, but not Treece.

For one thing, Picher has a lot more chat to deal with than Treece -- 50 million to 60 million tons compared with 6 million to 8 million -- said Sam Coleman, Superfund director in the EPA's Dallas office.

Also, the chat fields in Picher are intertwined with the town, so people had to go past them to go about their daily lives, Coleman said.

And, he said, one of the best ways to get rid of chat is to mix it into asphalt or concrete. A local company has a contract to collect and ship chat around the country for road and building projects.

Emptying Picher of residents will make it easier to haul chat to centralized piles for shipping, Coleman said.

In Treece, the cleanup effort is taking a different direction. The chat around Treece is less commercially viable because it's the wrong consistency, EPA officials said.

The plan there is to dig out small chat piles and move the material to bigger piles. Those eventually will be covered with 18 inches of clay and topsoil and replanted to a natural state, said EPA project manager David Drake.

The land that's cleared of chat will be usable for farming and ranching. The covered piles will look like native grassland, Drake said.

Also, children tend to be most susceptible to lead poisoning because they play in the dirt and put their hands in their mouths a lot.

Nine years ago, the EPA addressed that by testing all the yards in Treece and replacing the topsoil at about 40 homes. Drake said that removed the major exposure hazard.

"There's no burning risk or need or rationale to be moving people out of there," he said.

There has been no comprehensive lead testing on the children of Treece. But Drake said results from a similar cleanup in nearby Galena reduced the percentage of children with elevated lead levels from about 11 percent to about 6 percent.

The agency thinks the results would be about the same in Treece, he said.

Drake said he feels for the struggles the people of Treece are going through, but the EPA is only authorized by law to deal with environmental hazards.

"We really can't just expend to do that (buyout) because of economic and social issues," he said.

• • •

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.

They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.

I bring 'em flowers about every day,

but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say ...

For now, the only way out of Treece is to walk away.

Selling a house is next to impossible. Banks won't lend to potential buyers or make home-improvement loans to existing residents.

One resident, Robert Toney, has put almost all his possessions up for sale in an ongoing garage sale to try to raise enough to move to Missouri.

Wes Woodcock, the pastor at the Jesus Name Pentecostal Church, says he gets eight to 10 people at his Sunday services.

"It ain't very many," he said.

Woodcock, 39, was diagnosed two years ago with multiple sclerosis. While no one knows what causes the disease, Woodcock thinks his environment may play a role.

He and his mother, Marilyn, can tick off a list of other family members who have had health problems. Marilyn Woodcock said cancer claimed her husband's mother, her sister-in-law and a cousin. Another cousin is fighting kidney disease.

"They all lived here," Marilyn Woodcock said. "It's been young people, too."

Back at City Hall, Pruitt said she hopes Roberts can eventually persuade EPA administrator Jackson to come back to Kansas and make a stop in Treece.

"She needs to come here," Pruitt said. "Until you've been, you just don't get the whole picture."

Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.

I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,

Goodnight.

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PUBLIC NOTICE:
Picher Post Office To Close July 6, 2009

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Saying Good Bye

Are There Hard Lessons In Picher's Demise?

June 28, 2009

And so it ends.

Picher, the little town at the epicenter of the mine-ravaged Tar Creek Superfund site, is expected to cease operations on Sept. 1, after decades of uncertainty over what the future would hold.

The demise of Picher is no cause for celebration. Indeed, it is a genuinely sad event, and longtime residents are understandably distressed to see their beloved hometown about to shut down.

Most of the people are already gone. Soon, the school district and post office will officially close, too.

The silent, ghostly mountains of mine waste will remain, though, probably for decades to come, testament to a time when the place teemed with life, and also to the government's failure to do right by the people of Picher for so long.

While the end is not a happy one, it nonetheless represents a stunning success story, proof that perseverance can pay off, that a little band of advocates not only could but did do something about a fate that seemed inexorable.

Once the nation's top supplier of lead and zinc, the Ottawa County mining district was left drenched in dangerous mining wastes and undermined with miles of unstable caverns. Both the land above and the land below were constant threats. Water quality was impaired. Even vegetation was a source of concern.

The only rational solution was to move the people out of harm's way, and that of course would mean Picher ultimately would cease to be. But there was no other way to help the people. Cleaning up the colossal calamity will take generations, assuming it's even possible.

When no one else would, Gov. Brad Henry and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe took on the cause and eventually brought about the voluntary, phased-in relocation program now wrapping up; by year's end, everyone who wants to move away should have been afforded that opportunity.

Mayor Tim Reeves said recently that efforts are continuing to provide utilities to those residents who want to remain.

The town's five municipal employees will receive a year's severance pay if they stay until Sept. 1, he said.

The town's post office is scheduled to shut down July 6.

Amidst the sadness, townspeople recently received one small gift that surely buoyed their spirits a bit: The beloved Picher gorilla mascot is coming back.

Picher residents voted in April to dissolve the 90-year-old district, which graduated its final class in May. The district officially ceases to be on July 1.

School officials held an auction of district-owned items on June 14 and raised about $20,000 for the Commerce and Quapaw school districts, which will absorb the students from Picher.

The nearly two-ton concrete gorilla had been a fixture in the town for many years, and some residents wiped away tears as they watched the aged statue being loaded onto a trailer for relocation to a Missouri business.

But David Marlin, who operates a tractor salvage yard near Conway, Mo., couldn't go through with removing the popular primate from its home. He didn't even unload it off the trailer.

He said he couldn't get the images he observed at the auction off of his mind.

"I could see many of them wiping tears from their eyes," Marlin said. "I don't want the town being hurt anymore than it already has. The town has been through enough."

Marlin was contacted by Jodi Morgan of Grove, whose husband is a Picher graduate and who wanted to acquire the statue as a special Father's Day gift.

Marlin and Morgan worked out a deal that will result in the gorilla returning to its longtime home.

The return of the gorilla won't undo all the years of anguish, worry and uncertainty Picher residents and those of other neighboring towns have long endured, needless to say. There will never be any way to tell whether the mining waste robbed some people of better lives, or even cut them short. There will never be adequate compensation for the losses, direct and indirect, that residents and business owners suffered for generations because of the Superfund stigma and the federal government's obdurate refusal to pursue more expeditious remedies to the area's problems.

It was federal policy — not to mention a couple of world wars and a few lesser conflicts — that created the far-flung Tar Creek mining expanse, and it should have been federal policy to remove residents from the devastated region. But by the time talk of relocating Tar Creek residents had grown serious, federal policy had changed. The expensive experiences of environmental disasters such as Love Canal, N.Y., and Times Beach, Mo., prompted the federal government to rethink relocation policy and ultimately, abandon it.

So Tar Creek residents were left with little hope for solutions to their town's woes. Studies would continue, and young people would move away when they could. New sinkholes would open up, and the ubiquitous chat dust would continue endlessly coating the bleak landscape. Nothing much would change.

Or so most people thought. But a few fighters thought otherwise, and refused to give up. People like Ed Keheley, John Sparkman, Mark Osborn. Their tireless efforts caught the attention of the media, and finally people in a position to do something dramatic, notably Henry and Inhofe.

The saga of Picher doesn't have a happy ending. But at least there is an ending, one that will benefit most of those who endured so much. And perhaps Picher's legacy will be an enduring lesson. If nothing else, we learned from Picher what not to do.

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Outhouses Return In Picher... With Loss Of Sewer Service

Fewer Than 75 Families Remain In Picher

June 27, 2009

PICHER — Residents are flushing away expensive methods of living in a dying town and adopting old-fashioned ideas, such as outhouses.

Fewer than 75 families remain in Picher, and they often drive seven miles to Miami, OK, or five miles to Baxter Springs, Kan., to buy groceries.

As long as there is someone in Picher, power and gas companies plan to provide service, said Krista Foster, Picher’s utility clerk. But sewer service will be shut down, forcing people to dig septic tanks.

Septic tanks cost $4,000 to $7,000, Tom Thomas said, so he plans to build an outhouse.

Thomas’ home in the Tar Creek environmental Superfund area is set for the next federal buyout phase, but he is not sure he will move.

The town is polluted with toxic residue from decades of lead and zinc mining. The mines under local houses pose a threat of sinkholes.

"Our family has been at the same spot since 1917 except for a short time when we lived in Little Rock,” said Thomas, 68.

Thomas, a former mayor, is using lumber on hand to build his outhouse.

"I personally used an outhouse until 1964,” he said.

The planned outdoor bathroom will stand 20 feet from his home, complete with lights, heater, screen wire and a sealer to prevent odor, he said.

He said it will cost him only $30 to build.

Asked how he will cope in an ice storm, he said: "You walk out carefully, and do your businesses real fast. It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

He said he has given 13 families instructions on how to build an outhouse.

City officials said there does not appear to be a law prohibiting outhouses.

In 2003, 800 customers got public utilities: Today, 132 water meters are active.

The post office is the next service to be shut down — July 6.

About 235 Picher and rural residents will get their mail from a Quapaw carrier, said Kerry Rennels, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Postal Service.

Businesses still open include the Gorilla Cage, Ole Miner’s Pharmacy, First State Bank and Paul Thomas Funeral Home.

"People are just accepting the inevitable,” pharmacy technician Carla Copeland said. "Picher is a real close-knit community, and people are just sad.”

The bank will close at the end of the month, and the pharmacy has requested to be the last building bought out, said Larry Roberts, Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust operations manager.

The trust expects to finish appraisals in August or September, and offers should be made no later than October, he said.

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Picher’s Demise May Be Prolonged

Town’s Expenses Far Outstrip Tax Income

June 23, 2009

PICHER — The town of Picher likely will shut down September 1st

Still, Picher Mayor Tim Reeves said Monday evening that the community could possibly stretch out closing Picher for a few weeks after that.

The population had dwindled since families began accepting buyouts in an area that’s polluted with residue from decades of lead and zinc mining. Then a tornado a year ago left seven people dead and destroyed 20 blocks.

"We are working on continuing water, sewer and public utilities to the remaining residents who choose to remain (and not participate in a buyout),” Reeves said. "We are trying to do our best for the people.

"The EPA put out a flier saying the town would have no wastewater. We are going to try and go against that.”

The post office is to shut down July 6. Five town employees will get a year’s severance pay if they stay until Sept. 1, Reeves said.

About 30 people attended Monday’s meeting with the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, a far cry from the usual overflow crowds of 200 that have been seen previously.

Reeves said he will meet today with Quapaw town officials to work out a plan for the neighboring community to absorb some of the expenses and responsibility for providing service to the remaining Picher residents.

Most of the remaining residences are spread out on the west side of the community, he said.

"We are bringing in about $30 a month in taxes and paying between $12,000 to $14,000 (a month) in expenses,” Reeves said.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study indicated several areas are in danger of cave-ins over the abandoned mines. That prompted a federally funded buyout, during which 741 residences have been appraised and offers made for 656. Of those, 608 have been accepted.

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Rascal Flatts Team With Denny's For Unstoppable Breakfast

CMT News

June 16, 2009

Rascal Flatts band member, from left, Jay DeMarcus, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney (who hails from Picher), show their Unstoppable Breakfast in the Denny’s kitchen. You’d better rock as hard as they are in the above photo to afford this gravy-covered calorie bomb.

Multi-platinum-selling country music group Rascal Flatts, which includes guitarist Joe Don Rooney of Picher, are joining the new Denny’s Rockstar menu.

Named after the band’s latest hit album, Rascal Flatts’ Unstoppable Breakfast will headline the revamped Denny’s Rockstar menu, along with items from rock bands Good Charlotte, Gym Class Heroes and Sum 41.

The Rockstar menu, presented by Dr Pepper, is part of Denny’s ongoing Allnighter program, which is, as a news release puts it, “a sub-brand launched last spring that provides young, late-night customers with shareable food in a cool dining atmosphere from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.”

Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus, Rooney and Denny’s Chef Andrew Dismore created what is politely described as what “could be the heartiest breakfast around.” The Unstoppable Breakfast includes a biscuit topped with country-fried steak, eggs (prepped to the customer’s liking), American cheese, country gravy and three strips of bacon, served with a side of hash browns.

Sheesh, you’d better share it, or “Here Comes Goodbye” to your waistline.

“After spending many late-nights eating at Denny’s after shows, we jumped at the chance to create a dish customers will really enjoy,” said LeVox in the release.

“Like Denny’s, we work very hard to provide our fans with a high-quality product at a fair price, so naming our breakfast after our current album, ‘Unstoppable’ made perfect sense. We put our hearts and souls into recording the album and the same can be said for the Unstoppable Breakfast; this is just the kind of meal we’re looking for after a show, and we think our fans at Denny’s will enjoy it.”

Past Denny’s Rockstar menus have offered The Hooburrito (from Hoobastank), Plain White Shake (Plain White Ts), Taking Back Bacon Burger Fries (Taking Back Sunday), and The Great Eggsteak (Boys Like Girls). Oklahoma alt-pop/rock band The All-American Rejects also were featured on a past Rockstar menu with The All-American S.O.S., hashbrowns and a slice of grilled Texas toast topped with a burger patty, cheese, grilled onions and sausage gravy.

“Denny’s has a heritage for serving late-night meals to bands and music fans dating back to the 1950s, and the Rockstar menu is a great way to celebrate that history,” said Mark Chmiel, chief marketing and innovation officer for Denny’s, in the release.

“Bands from the two previous Rockstar menus really enjoyed working with our chef to create premium items that not only reflected their personalities but tasted great. Rascal Flatts, Good Charlotte, Gym Class Heroes and Sum 41 are continuing the trend of providing Denny’s customers with exciting late-night dining options through the third Rockstar menu.”

The new Rockstar menu, with items starting at $3.99, will be available in Denny’s eateries on June 23.

Since we’re on the subject of Rascal Flatts, don’t forget about my live-blog of the CMT Music Awards tonight. The awards show starts at 7 p.m. on CMT, and the band not only is nominated, they are performing.

Plus, check out this great photo Gary Crow took for The Oklahoman of Rascal Flatts’ big show last Friday at Buffalo Run Casino Amphitheatre in Miami, just three miles from Rooney’s hometown of Picher.

Check out the other items on the new Denny’s Rockstar menu after the break.

Other items on the new Rockstar menu:

- Good Charlotte’s Band of Burritos - Twins Joel and Benji Madden, founders of Good Charlotte, created a pair of burritos distinguished only by the primary ingredients. Both the Boca Burrito and Smoked Chicken Burrito feature shredded cheese, sliced mushrooms, fire-roasted peppers and onions, and spicy mayo. The dishes are served with tortilla chips and ranch dressing.

- Gym Class Heroes’ After School Special - A cross between rock, rap and hip-hop, the band’s ability to cohesively combine a variety of genres is evident in the After School Special, which is Texas toast topped with hash browns, a fried egg, shredded cheese, bacon, and fire-roasted peppers and onions. The dish is served with hash browns and a side of Ranchero country gravy.

- Sum 41’s The Sumwich - Sum 41’s Canadian roots can be found in The Sumwich; two slices of French toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and filled with ham, cheddar cheese and eggs (customer’s choice). The multi-flavor meal is enhanced by hash browns and a side of syrup for dipping.

“The Allnighter program is a commitment to our late-night customers that Denny’s will always be a comfortable place they can go for high-quality, affordable food,” said Chmiel in the release. “The bands, current and past, involved with the Rockstar menu have been invaluable in helping Denny’s demonstrate this commitment. The bottom line is that the Rockstar menu, in conjunction with the entire Allnighter program, allows us to effectively complement the overall Denny’s ‘Good Friends, Good Value’ proposition during late-night.”

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A Long Goodbye

For The Most Part, The Picher-Cardin School District No Longer Exists.

June 16, 2009

The final graduating class bid its farewell in May.

All that’s left now is an all-class reunion today and an auction on Sunday of "surplus property.”

That property includes a gorilla statue that served as the school’s mascot, and myriad trophies, band uniforms and sports equipment.

The school’s furnishings are to be split between the Quapaw and Commerce districts, which will serve students still living in the Picher area.

It’s an unceremonious end to a community long in decline because of its location in the Tar Creek Superfund site.

As one valedictorian said at last month’s graduation, "We can never return to visit.”

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Auction Raises About $20,000 For Commerce & Quapaw Schools

On July 1, The District Will Officially Close

June 16, 2009

PICHER — Sunday’s auction of items from the Picher school district raised about $20,000 for the Commerce and Quapaw school districts.

Commerce and Quapaw will absorb the students who were displaced by the closure of Picher schools. Picher residents voted in April to dissolve the 90-year-old district, which graduated its final class in May.

Picher has been part of the Tar Creek environmental Superfund cleanup site since the early 1980s due to lead and zinc mining residue in the area.

Three years ago, the school district had more than 300 students, but the combination of a federally funded buyout of the town and last year’s fatal tornado speed up the closing of the school.

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Hundreds Flock To Picher Auction

June 14, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Everyone, in one way or another, showed up to bid. It was, after all, an auction.

One of the successful bidders even went home with a 500-pound statue of a gorilla.

But most of the hundreds of people who turned out for the Sunday sale at the Picher school complex were not there for the furniture or equipment.

Many said they were there for the memories, and to bid farewell.

“Boy, I’ve roamed these halls a lot,” said Carl Berry, a 1974 Picher graduate.

Berry said he hoped to find a few things to purchase, but mostly he “just came for the old memories. It’s a sad thing.”

The Picher-Cardin School District, as a result of a government buyout prompted by lead contamination and cave-in risk in the former mining area, is in its final phase of closing for good.

Alumni of all ages attended a reunion Saturday that organizers said drew nearly a thousand people. Many of them decided to stay for the auction. While several expressed an interest in some items, specifically the concrete statue of the school mascot, many said they simply wanted to visit the school a final time.

“I really came to visit with the people who came from out of town,” said Dorothy Sigle White, a graduate with a legacy at the Picher-Cardin schools.

“My parents graduated from here in the 1930s,” she said. “I graduated in ’61 and my brother in ’64. It’s just kind of sad.”

Picher graduates Norton and Ruth Shoemaker said they simply wanted to look around one last time. “We just wanted to come and see the school,” said Ruth Shoemaker.

Swarms of people followed auctioneers from Clapp Auction Service through the halls, classrooms and fields to bid on items. Any item not going to the Commerce or Quapaw school districts was up for sale.

Dwayne “Buzz” Ervin, of Miami, said he didn’t know much about what was being auctioned off, but he hoped to find something that piqued his interest. He purchased a few desks from the elementary school, and he also wanted to buy some fencing and light fixtures.

Among the many items being auctioned off were bookshelves, kitchenware, sports equipment and the Picher fixture: the 7-foot gorilla.

Many people, mostly alumni, seemed intent on bidding on the gorilla. Though he is not a Picher graduate, Ervin said, “It’s the hottest item they’ve got.”

Berry joked about bidding on the Picher gorilla as well. “I told my wife, ‘That’s what we ought to have in our back yard in Commerce.’ We could paint it blue,” he said.

The gorilla ended up being bought by David Marlin, of Conway, Mo., for $2,500.

Marlin is not a graduate of Picher, nor are any of his immediate family members. When asked what he planned to do with the massive statue, Marlin would only say that he has a special project in mind.

joplinglobe.com

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Hundreds Turn Out For Picher Auction

After Serving The Town For Generations, The Picher-Cardin School District Is Permanently Closed.

Jun 14, 2009

Jim Clapp of Clapp Auction Service takes bids on the Picher gorilla Sunday afternoon during an auction of items from the Picher School District.

PICHER — Most of the 1,000 people attending Sunday’s auction of the Picher School District wanted to see who would buy the 500-pound concrete gorilla.

Between four bidders, Dave Marlin of Conway, Mo., had the winning bid of $2,500. Marlin didn’t graduate or even attend Picher High School. His reasons for purchasing the replica of the school mascot were not nostalgic, but business.

“I plan to use it for advertising,” said Marlin, who operates a tractor salvage yard. Marlin said he brought down a truck and trailer to haul the gorilla back to Conway, about 130 miles northeast of Picher.

“I’ll get it out of here one way or another,” Marlin said.

“It’s like carnival days,” said LaWayne Clapp, referring to the auction. “Some were sad, others were visiting old friends.”

Clapp Auction Service handled the eight-hour auction.

“Bidding just for the school’s jerseys last over two hours,” Clapp said.

Football jerseys went for $25 to $50 and football helmets sold for around $25 each. Jessi Garrett, of Oklahoma City, paid more than $5,000 for 23 folding metal chairs that former girls and boys basketball players sat on during games.

The chairs went for $230 each. The chairs have a drawing of a gorilla on the chair seat the name “Picher Gorillas” on the chair back.

“I plan go give some (of the chairs) as Christmas presents and the others I want to sell to the residents,” Garrett said.

Garrett graduated in 1999 and played basketball.

“It’s a really bittersweet day,” Garrett said. “I live in Oklahoma City and this wasn’t real for me until today.”

Countless books, chairs, desks, chalkboards were sold. Some people bought old band uniforms and cafeteria equipment, including a snow cone machines.

The 90-year-old school district graduated its final class of seniors in May, and it now its remaining 50 students will be absorbed by the Commerce and Quapaw districts.

Picher is part of an area in northern Ottawa County that has been part of the Tar Creek environmental Superfund cleanup site since the early 1980s. In the 1990s tests showed the Picher children suffered lead poisoning and a 2006 Army Corps of Engineers federal study showed the abandoned lead and zinc mines in the communities of Picher, Cardin and Hockerville had a high risk of caving in.

Three years ago, the school district had more than 300 students, but the combination of a federally funded buyout of the town and last year’s EF-4 tornado that left seven people dead and 20 blocks of the community annihilated, hastened the demise of the school.

The death of the school was slow, at first the school cut athletics, band and art programs. Then in April voters overwhelming approved, by a 55 to 6 vote, to dissolve the school district.

On July 1 the school will officially close.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the Commerce and Quapaw school systems.

Tulsa World

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Picher-Cardin Schools: Everything Must Go

High Bidder Takes All...

Jun 14, 2009

Picher - One small Oklahoma town has seen its share of trouble, from toxic dumpsite to a series of destructive tornadoes.

Picher is about 100 miles Northeast of Tulsa, where many former residents have moved away. Now the school system is shutting down. Now school supplies are going to the highest bidder.

At Picher-Cardin Public Schools they wheeled and dealed with hopes of making money. Rodney Hobart did his part.

"We bought some kids' tables and chairs," said Hobart.

And he is not alone, hundreds turned out to save some cash, and maybe even take home a piece of school history. Because of a shrinking population Picher-Cardin Schools are shutting down for good, and everything is for sale -- and we do mean everything.

"Books, supplies, filing cabinets, computers, football jerseys, cheerleading uniforms," listed auctioneer Chad Masterson.

Even a 500 pound concrete gorilla, the school's mascot, was on the auction block. But one thing they cannot sell is school spirit. Jack Abernathy is Picher Class of '54.

"Real close bunch of people in '54," said Abernathy.

But in '09 there are not enough people, which is why officials made a very difficult decision to shut down, and that brings us to Sunday's auction.

Item after item, memory after memory, sold to the highest bidder in hopes of making new memories.

Hobart, who home schools his kids, is happy to oblige.

"Kind of expensive on the internet. I got a good deal," said Hobart.

Picher-Cardin Public Schools will officially shut down July 1.

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Rascal Flatts Wows Crowd In NE Oklahoma

Joe Don Rooney is a native of the nearby town of Picher, Okla.

Jun 14, 2009

MIAMI, Okla. – With the afternoon sun heating up the parking lot, a small line of people waited near a semi truck, seeking shade from the sun.

This group of mostly women were anxiously awaiting their turn to meet the members of enormously popular country-pop act Rascal Flatts.

Playing on a stage set in a big field adjacent to the Buffalo Run Casino, operated by the Peoria Indians of Oklahoma, Rascal Flatts made this spot in northeastern Oklahoma the third stop on their 2009 “American Living Unstoppable Tour” in support of their swell new album, Unstoppable, as well as their partnership with JCPenney and the “American Living” line of merchandise sold at their stores.

The line moved along. Two older women were taken by staffers to the front of the line to meet singer Gary LeVox, guitarist Joe Don Rooney and bassist Jay DeMarcus, the guys who make up Rascal Flatts.

“Oh they’re charming young men,” said the slight woman who appeared to be in her late seventies.

Just then, three attractive blonde women appeared at the end of the line. They appeared to be together and started chatting up a roadie.

Curious, your Red Dirt Reporter asked a woman nearby if they were “a group.”

“Yeah, I think it’s Chasing Dixie,” the woman replied. She then stepped over to them and confirmed that it was indeed Chasing Dixie, made up of American Idol Season 7 finalist and Tulsa native Alaina Whitaker along with Nashville players Andrea Young on violin and Erin James on guitar and mandolin.

Once in the tent, where Rascal Flatts was mugging for the camera and embracing everyone who came along, Red Dirt Report asked Chasing Dixie guitarist Erin James about the group and if they had an album.

“No, we’re still working on it. We do have a song out but we’re still writing songs,” James said. She added that they were going to be back in Miami opening up for Gary Allan and may have some more gigs in the area in the near future.

The girls, who reminded me a bit of the Dixie Chicks, were kind enough to pose for a picture, this after they had asked this reporter to take a picture of them out in the parking lot. We wish them success in their burgeoning career.

Meanwhile, the line got shorter. Gary LeVox was sporting sunglasses and the other two looked casual in jeans, shirts and jackets. Of course Joe Don Rooney is a native of the nearby town of Picher, Okla. and while we have not confirmed this, it is believed that they landed a gig here because of his connection to the area. Of course Rascal Flatts is making a stop later in the tour in Columbus, Ohio, where the group got their start.

As for meeting the guys in Rascal Flatts, it was a neat experience. They were told of Red Dirt Report and that we’re big fans. Alas, we were told not to take any of our own pictures, that they would be posted somewhere on RascalFlatts.com. So far, we have not found them.

Writing for both Red Dirt Report and The Norman Transcript, this outing to catch a Rascal Flatts show was turning out to be more successful than when they were in Oklahoma City at the Ford Center in 2007 on the “Still Feels Good Tour.” That time, Ford Center management and Rascal Flatts management nixed our opportunity of covering the show, with opener Jason Aldean, at literally the last minute. Having already sold my tickets to some friends, we walked away from the Ford Center dejected.

This time, however, your Red Dirt Reporter endured horrible traffic on the equally horrible turnpike near Miami. Having already checked into the hotel in nearby Joplin, Mo., a return trip to Miami was made. Some half-wit state trooper blocked the entrance onto an exit and a 12 mile trip to the next exit had to made. We could easily go into a rant on the idiocy of the turnpike system but we will address that another time.

After shaking their hands and getting a picture, it was time to wander around the crowded, muddy field. Rock songs played over the speakers and before long the “Weird Al” Yankovic of country music, Cledus T. Judd (born Barry Poole), opened up the show with “I Love NASCAR,” a parody of Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar.” While that song was good, we could have done without his cornpone prison-rape parody “My Cellmate Thinks I’m Sexy” done to Kenny Chesney’s early hit “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

Judd is pretty humorous and seemed an odd opener. Yet, we learned that he’s hit some hard times and a call to the guys in Rascal Flatts turned out to be just the thing to get him back on top, since they invited him to open up the tour, along with Hootie and The Blowfish singer Darius Rucker.

Rucker, it turns out, is quite a showman. He seems to love the stage and the crowd really enjoyed his performances of “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” and “It Won’t Be Like This For Long.” The crowd was also happy that Rucker and his band cranked out some old Hootie tunes, including “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.” The thing about it is that those two songs work well in the mainstream country genre as well. As a black artist, the first successful one in country music since Charley Pride (Cowboy Troy hasn’t had any big hits yet), Rucker has been overwhelmingly accepted by country music fans.

Rucker ended the show with a gutsy cover of Hank Jr.’s “Family Tradition.” Again, the crowd loved it.

But it was Rascal Flatts they came for. As the sun was setting and night was settling in, a buzz could be felt. It was time for the guys to hit the stage. And under a shower of sparks and pyrotechnics, Gary, Joe Don and Jay emerged, with Gary announcing, “Oklahoma, are you ready to rock?”

Screams of excitement filled the air as they kicked into the fun and irresistible “Summer Nights,” their latest single off of Unstoppable. Graphics of sun and stars flashed behind the group as they bounced around and then transitioned into “Stand,” a hit from 2007 and then into the appealing “Fast Cars and Freedom,” another number one, that one from 2005.

Keeping pace, it was then into “Me and My Gang,” before slowing things down significantly with their biggest hit to date – “Bless The Broken Road” – which had the crowd singing along.

Out in the muddy field, your humble correspondent was forced to move from one side of the field to the other just to keep the hungry bugs at bay. Stay in one spot too long and you’re the meal for the night. Merchants lined the sides of the field selling everything from pizza to beer to bratwursts. Bands of hyperactive teenage boys roamed about, while middle-aged folks from the four-state region lounged in folding chairs they lugged with them from the nearby parking lot.

Back on stage, Rascal Flatts cranked through more hit songs. Then, Rooney, who addressed the hometown crowd, took over lead vocals on a stripped-down version of their 2004 hit “Mayberry.” This is where Rooney and DeMarcus (playing piano) did their “front-porch” bit, reflecting a scene they filmed with Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus in the film Hannah Montana: The Movie. The song they performed was the goofy-but-fun song “Backwards.”

LeVox returned, assumedly after taking a water break, and joined the other two for a trip own memory lane with “Prayin’ For Daylight,” which they claimed they hadn’t performed in a long time. It was then into their latest number one – their 10th - with the ballad “Here Comes Goodbye.”

And the hits just kept on coming from “Love You Out Loud” to “Take Me There” to “My Wish” a botched version of “I Melt,” where LeVox admitted to the crowd that he was singing the second verse first – on accident, of course.

All in all, Rascal Flatts is just the sort of group that brings folks together. Families, friends and people who just like a feel-good song played in a big open field on a warm June evening.

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School Memorabilia Auctioned Off In Picher

School Memorabilia Auctioned Off In Picher

Jun 14, 2009


Thousands of pieces of school memorabilia were auctioned off in Picher on Sunday.

Auctioneers held fire sales in every room, from elementary to high school.

PICHER, OK -- Thousands of pieces of school memorabilia have been auctioned off in Picher.

After serving the town for generations, the Picher-Cardin School District is permanently closed.

Hundreds of people showed up for Sunday's auction. Many of them were in tears as they described the overwhelming sadness of watching 90 years of scholastic history being sold off piece by piece.

"It's sad to see something so wonderful come to an end. And to know there's nothing we can do about it," said Theresa Bland, Picher High School teacher.

They went room by room, selling off every book, chair and desk.

The Picher-Cardin School District, after graduating thousands of students since the 1920s, is no more.

"It's the end of a family. It's the end of a family here," said Candy Watson, an auction participant.

Picher sits in the middle of the nation's largest superfund site.

The federal government says after decades of lead and zinc mining, the town's suffering from a host of pollution problems.

Both state and federal agencies have been buying out residents for several years. It's a process that has been accelerated after a devastating tornado last year killed six people and left the town in ruins.

"What goes through my heart? It's a shame we're losing a town," said Watson.

Now there are not enough students left to keep the doors open.

"It's very emotional. I can see myself in all these classrooms because I was here 13 years," said Heather Williams, a Picher graduate.

Auctioneers held fire sales in every room, from elementary to high school. For former students, it was a somber scene.

"I referred to it as a funeral. It felt like I was coming to a funeral," said Williams.

Theresa Bland lives in Picher and has been a high school teacher there for a decade.

Now, she's looking for a new job, in a new city. She is sad to know she won't be back in August and won't see her students on a daily basis.

The auctioneers say they expect to raise several thousand dollars. All of that money will be donated to the Quapaw and Commerce school districts.

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Joe Don Rooney, Rascal Flatts Prove ‘Unstoppable’

If “Life Is a Highway,” then Joe Don Rooney’s decade-long trek with Rascal Flatts has been a fast-moving, far-flung joyride.

June 10, 2009

On June 6, the contemporary country trio marked the 10th anniversary of its first album release. In April, the multiplatinum-selling group put out its sixth studio album, the chart-topping “Unstoppable.”

“It’s been 10 years I’ve been on this ride with Rascal Flatts,” Rooney said, his tone a bit incredulous, in a teleconference last week. “It’s just been a blur.”

The guitarist, who grew up in Picher, will return this weekend to his old stomping grounds. He and bandmates bassist/pianist Jay DeMarcus and singer Gary LeVox will play a big outdoor show Friday at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK, just three miles from Picher.

“It’s gonna be awesome to come back. It is like a family reunion. It’s gonna be great to get to park the bus there and spend the whole day with them, maybe try to play a little golf with Dad,” he said.

The country star is glad to have a happy reason for returning to the northeastern corner of Oklahoma.

While the band played a sold-out September show in Tulsa, Rooney made his last trip to his hometown as a Red Cross volunteer. After a tornado ravaged Picher on May 10, 2008, he returned to help out the community and survey the damage, including the crumpled remains of his childhood home.

“I’ve learned that, you know what, sometimes you just gotta put down whatever you’re doing and just go help somebody,” said Rooney, who has been honored with his bandmates for the group’s various humanitarian efforts.

“Getting to see Picher go through that tornado, on the heels of everything else going on there, it’s just like, good Lord, after all this, how can a tornado come in and practically wipe away the town? But things like that do happen, and it’s sad reality.”

The 1994 Picher High School graduate has watched from afar as his hometown has dwindled. For the past few years, the community has been cleared out under a federal buyout as part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, an area polluted by lead and zinc mining. The school is closing; the last class of Picher Gorillas graduated last month.

“I tell a lot of people about my life growing up and my hometown and my amazing memories of growing up in small-town America. And then I tell them about my hometown basically slowly disappearing,” he said. “It’s really sad. ... I have so many great memories of growing up in Oklahoma and growing up in Picher, and right there in the Miami-Ottawa County area. It was my platform. It was my world for so many years.”

He credited his smalltown upbringing with providing him confidence and the chance to play sports and be in marching band. Now, instead of performing before a few hundred people on Picher’s Hayman Field, he’s playing for thousands of screaming fans at the likes of Madison Square Garden and, later this summer, Wrigley Field.

“It’s very humbling every night. You know, I do have some nights when it’s kind of a blur, and it goes by and I don’t get to think about it much,” he said. “But there are those special nights when it does hit me between the eyes, and I just get shocked myself. ... It’s an amazing dream come true.”

He started playing guitar as a teenager and was inspired by the late Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who grew up in Miami. Rooney was 19 when he moved to Nashville, Tenn. He formed Rascal Flatts with LeVox and DeMarcus in 1999.

Since, the band has sold about 20 million albums and had 10 No. 1 singles and a plethora of awards. For Rooney, the level of success still doesn’t quite seem normal.

“I don’t think it ever will, and I think it’s because of where I came from,” he said. “I don’t think it should make sense to me. Because if it did, I think it wouldn’t be as special to me.”

Though many of his relatives and friends have moved from Picher, he expects Friday’s show to be a big, joyful reunion. He is bringing along his wife, model Tiffany Fallon, and their son Jagger, 1, for the homecoming.

“Miami’s going to be off the hook, I’m just telling you right now. We’re gonna have a great time. I might not leave. I might just stay hooked up all night,” he said with a laugh.

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Picher Schools To Auction Off District Supplies


"Willie Ng, head football coach at Commerce High School, poses with the concrete image of Picher High School’s mascot.
The gorilla statue will be sold at auction Sunday as part of the dismantling of the school district in the former mining area that is the focus of a federal buyout.
Ng was quarterback of the Picher Gorillas in 1984 when the school won the state championship.

What do you do with a 7-foot, red-eyed gorilla weighing an estimated 500 pounds? Whatever it wants. Unless, of course, it’s a Picher gorilla made of concrete. Then you sell it, along with the blocking sled, pitching machine, batting cage and more that former Picher Gorillas used over the years.

June 08, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — What do you do with a 7-foot, red-eyed gorilla weighing an estimated 500 pounds?

Whatever it wants.

Unless, of course, it’s a Picher gorilla made of concrete. Then you sell it, along with the blocking sled, pitching machine, batting cage and more that former Picher Gorillas used over the years. All that equipment is going on the auction block Sunday as the Picher-Cardin School District dissolves.

“It’s a sad, sad situation for a lot of people,” said Willie Ng, a 1985 Picher graduate who was quarterback on the 1984 state championship football team. “It’s not too often that you see a town die.”

The school district has operated for more than 90 years, and much of that history will be sold Sunday.

“There are all kinds of pads and helmets, weight benches, pole-vaulting poles,” said Jim Clapp, with Clapp Auction Service of Miami, which will run the auction.

Auction items also include lockers, thousands of textbooks and library books, cafeteria equipment, football pads, band uniforms, miscellaneous trophies won by students and teams over the years, and bleachers.

Clapp said there will be old uniforms, some going back 25 years, that former Picher players may want.

“There are probably going to be 500 to 800 trophies. There is a bunch of trophies. Picher has always been a competitive opponent,” said Clapp, a former Wyandotte Bear. “I played against them. Those guys are tougher than pine knots.”

The Picher-Cardin School District graduated its last class in May. The district is shutting down as local residents, who live in a former lead and zinc mining area, continue taking buyouts through a federal program prompted by risks associated with cave-ins and environmental damage. Many students are transferring to the nearby Commerce and Quapaw school districts in the wake of a vote last fall to dissolve the Picher school system.

The 7-foot gorilla statue has stood at the entrance of Picher High School for many years and is well-known among alumni.

“I want it,” Susie Stone said last week. She is a 1965 graduate who is helping to organize a Picher school reunion this weekend.

The reunion and the auction offer an opportunity for people to revisit a part of Picher history that soon will be gone for good.

“Everyone is going with so much excitement but so much sadness,” Stone said of the reunion. She and six other Picher graduates have organized the get-togethers over the past 10 years.

This is the last year the reunion will be held at the schools, she said.

“We want them to be able to walk those halls one last time,” Stone said. The reunions normally attract about 500 alumni, but she expects more this year.

Plans for reunions in years to come are tentative since the school is where the reunions have always been held, she said.

Don Barr, Picher superintendent, said some of the district’s assets were divided equally between the Quapaw and Commerce districts. The school board also is considering what to do with some of the memorabilia that won’t be sold, including plaques of distinction, the 1984 state championship trophy and some old photographs.

Revenue from the auction will be split between the annexing districts, according to Picher school officials.

“I just hate that it’s happening,” said Ng, now the head football coach at Commerce. “It’s a bad day.”

On Tap

The Picher school reunion begins at 4 p.m. Saturday in the grade-school cafeteria. Attendees are asked to provide drinks, cookies, chips or other snacks. T-shirts and other Picher memorabilia will be for sale.

The Picher-Cardin School District auction is at 11 a.m. Sunday at the school. A list of auction items is available via clappauctions.com.

Auction items include but not limited to:

school lockers * 1000s of books-text & library * book shelves & storage shelves * many school desks & teachers desks * 100s of chairs * chalkboards * display frames & tables * folding tables * TVs-VCRs-phones-electronics * candy dispenser * fire exts * water fountains * file cabinets * 10’ chest freezer * (2) Whirlpool 18’ ref * (2) elec cook stoves * (3) Burnette surgers * partitions * lots computer components * washers & dryers * Groen steel jacket kettle-50 gal cap * South Bend 10 burner double oven SS cafeteria stove * 10’ SS hood * 6’ SS hood * Hobart Comm stand mixer * Cres-Cor alum 15 tray pastry cabinet * 12’ SS counter * old sno cone machine * ceiling tile * hardwood flooring * belting floor covering * trash cans * Canon NP6551 copier * carport * lots misc trophies * lots sports uniforms-football-BB-baseball-track-helmets-pads-sweats * lots band uniforms-old ones & new ones * exercise equip-tread mills-weight benches etc * blocking sled * pitching machine * port batting cage * baseball backstop - pressbox at FootBall field - 100s of feet chain link fence - (These ballField related items to be torn down) * outdoor benches & tables * concrete blocks * 10” underground plastic pipe * BB goals * flagpoles * misc lumber * mop buckets * 30 joints alum irrigation pipe 3”x24’ * misc pipe 1”-4” * salvage metal * Hayman FB field sign * FB scoreboard * slide out bleachers * lg stage curtain * piano * thinners-paint-oils * air jack * 3” vice * bench grinder * organizers * plumber vice * pipe threaders * heat & air filters * lots nails * flashing * pipe fittings * pipe rack * entry wire * concrete mix * solar salt * lg ext ladder * 6’x6’ shop fan * lg A frame w/2 ½ T chain falls * 72 Chevy Custom 10-not running * Yamaha 200 3 wheeler-not running... and last but not least a 500# concrete Gorilla that has graced the entrance to PHS for many years

joplinglobe

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Last Graduation At Picher School

May 17, 2009

A powerful tornado tore through the town last May.News On 6

PICHER, OK -- After 90 years of public education, the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher had its last high school graduation ceremony this weekend.

A powerful tornado tore through the town last May. Seven people were killed, and many other residents relocated.

The government was also in the process of buying out homes near the Tar Creek Superfund site.

Because of the declining school enrollment, voters decided to dissolve the district.

Eleven seniors graduated this weekend. There were 51 students in the third through 12th grades.

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Picher School Says Farewell To Final Elevin Graduates

Published: May 17, 2009

PICHER — The 11 members of the class of 2009 celebrated their school’s final graduation Friday with tears and cheers, saying goodbye to their 90-year-old school.

Picher-Cardin Schools is being shut down because of declining enrollment. The population decrease is caused primarily by a federal buyout of unstable homes and businesses in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville in Ottawa County.

The school district is within the Tar Creek Superfund site, a 40-square-mile area polluted by decades of lead and zinc mining.

Co-valedictorians Melissa Snow and Kayla Underhill addressed their classmates.

"Our class is different because it’s the last,” Snow said. "We can never return to visit.”

Underhill penned a poem referring to the students’ strength through the years.

Superintendent Don Barr also addressed the graduates, encouraging them not to "let your trials become your identity.”

The school always has been on the small side, but 11 graduates is a low number for a graduating class, said Craig Cruzan, a 2004 graduate and Academic All-Stater.

"It’s kind of bittersweet,” Cruzan said. "It is sad because you don’t want your high school to fall apart. The reunions will have to be held somewhere else. But I am kind of excited for the graduating seniors. They can say they were the last class of Picher Gorillas.”

Picher-Cardin Schools enrolled 51 students from third through 12th grades for the 2008-09 school year. A state-sponsored buyout in 2005 moved out most of the kindergartners and first-graders because the buyout focused on families with young children.

Before the buyouts began, Picher-Cardin Schools had 350 students. The district has seen an 85 percent decrease in enrollment since the fall of 2005. Some classes this year have only three students where once there were 20.

Trying To Move On

Picher was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Site list in 1983. Families began leaving more than a decade ago after a medical study found dangerous levels of lead in blood samples of Tar Creek children.

In 2006, a federal study found that homes and businesses in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville were in danger of collapsing into old mines. Sink holes began opening up throughout the area.

Last May, the town was struck by a tornado that killed six people and destroyed dozens of homes.

An attempt to shut down the school in February 2007 failed. Two years later, on April 7, voters returned to the polls and voted to annex the school, signaling its demise. The vote was 55-6.

Former Superintendent Bob Walker said Picher-Cardin Schools will be remembered for its students and its commitment to serving the community with quality education.

"The last three years have been trying to the community, students and parents,” said Walker, vice president of student affairs at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. "We tried to handle it (the closing) as best as we could. There needs to be closure so the next generation can move on.”

The annex agreement divides the furnishings and equipment between Commerce and Quapaw schools, Superintendent Don Barr said.

"The memorabilia and other surplus property will be auctioned off June 14,” Barr said. "I don’t know where the big gorilla will go,” Barr said, referring to a five-foot concrete statute near the school’s entrance.

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Picher High School's Last Class Graduates

May 16, 2009

PICHER — Picher seniors graduated Friday night in a 23-minute ceremony that marked the end of 90 years of public education in Picher.

Picher-Cardin schools is being closed because of declining enrollment figures caused primarily by a federal buyout of homes and businesses in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville in Ottawa County.

The school district is within the Tar Creek Superfund site, a 40-square-mile area that remains polluted by decades of lead and zinc mining.

Picher's class of 2009 features 11 graduates.

At the commencement, a crowd of 250 was on hand to witness the bittersweet ceremony.

Amid camera flashes, graduates walked across the stage in red and white gowns, flashing smiles for family members.

Co-valedictorians Melissa Snow and Kayla Underhill addressed their classmates.

"Our class is different because it's the last," Snow said. "We can never return to visit."

Underhill penned a poem referring to the students' strength through the years.

Superintendent Don Barr addressed the graduates, encouraging them not to "let your trials become your identity."

Picher-Cardin schools have always been small, but 11 graduates is a low number for a graduating class, said Craig Cruzan, a 2004 graduate and the only Academic All-Stater in school history.

"It's kind of bittersweet," Cruzan said. "It is sad because you don't want your high school to fall apart. The reunions will have to be held somewhere else.

"But I am kind of excited for the graduating seniors. They can say they were the last class of Picher Gorillas.''

In its final school year, Picher-Cardin Public Schools enrolled 51 students from third through 12th grades. A state-sponsored buyout in 2005 moved out most of the families with children who would have been kindergartners and first-graders this year.

Before the buyouts began, the school district had 350 students.

The district has seen an 85 percent decrease in enrollment since the fall of 2005.

In some classes this year, only three students were in classrooms that once held 20.

Picher residents seemed to have faced one calamity after another since the town was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list in 1983.

Families began leaving more than a decade ago after a medical study found dangerous levels of lead in area children's blood samples.

In 2006, a federal study found that homes and businesses in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville were in danger of collapsing into old mines. Reports of sink holes opening up throughout the area are commonplace. The three former mining towns now have fewer than 1,500 residents among them.

In May 2008, Picher was struck by a devastating tornado that killed seven people and destroyed dozens of homes.

An attempt to shut down the school in February 2007 failed. Two years later, on April 7, voters returned to the polls and voted 55-6 to annex the school to the Commerce and Quapaw districts.

Former Superintendent Bob Walker said the Picher-Cardin school district will be remembered for its students and its commitment to serving the community with quality education.

"I think in my mind it brings to a close a successful school system," said Walker, now vice president of student affairs at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, Okla.

"The last three years have been trying to the community, students and parents," he said. "We tried to handle it (the closing) as best as we could. There needs to be closure so the next generation can move on."

Walker was succeeded by Don Barr as superintendent. Barr said the school is believed to have opened near the end of World War I.

"We are unsure, but it is believed the school started in 1917, with the first graduation class in 1920," Barr said. "Friday's graduation class of 11 students will be the 89th graduating class.''

The annex plan divides the Picher-Cardin district's furnishings and equipment between Commerce and Quapaw schools, Barr said.

"The memorabilia and other surplus property will be auctioned off June 14. I don't know where the big gorilla will go," Barr said, referring to a 5-foot-tall concrete statue on the school grounds.

Barr said current students' records will follow them to their new schools and that the permanent records of alumni will be housed at the Ottawa County Clerk's Office in Miami.

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KMRG Postscript From Picher... Part One

(The interviews in this segment are from Jimmy Bayliss, employee at the Paul Thomas Funeral Home in Picher; Joyce Cox who works at a local diner; and John Sparkman, the director of the Picher Housing Authority)

(SONG: "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails)
(Steve Berg)
On a rainy day in May... (Sound of a car driving on a rain-soaked street in Picher)
A car drives through the town of Picher... and keeps on going.

Picher always deserved better.

(Jimmy Bayliss) "They said we was the meanest town around and everything."
(SB) Jimmy Bayliss was born and lived here nearly all his life... says there were some tough characters that worked in the mines... the mines that produced the towering piles of toxic chat that are Picher's tragic trademark... the mines that gave the world valuable zinc and lead, that made a lot of the ammunition that helped win World War Two.
(JB) "Picher gave a lot more than they're gettin' back."
(SB) Studies said the kids had elevated levels of lead in their blood from the dust... the government tried to clean it up... but it never happened... and Picher started dying a slow death.

(JB) "The tornado was the final blow."
(Audio from Berry Enloe videotape)
(SB) May 10th, 2008... a man from Jay named Berry Enloe was in Picher to visit relatives... (Sound of Enloe speaking as he spots the tornado and tells someone nearby that a tornado is on the ground)
...and videotaped a tornado, an F-4 monster that ripped through the southwest part of town. (Tornado Sirens) ...the part where Joyce Cox used to live.
(Joyce Cox) "I looked out the back window, and I could see the strange color of the sky."
(SB) She rushed for cover in the bathtub.
(JC) "Didn't get in the tub because I didn't get a chance... y'hear that crackin' noise over your head y'know.."
(Tornado Sirens) (JC) "Knelt down beside it and I said, well, this is a good time to pray."
(SB) It was a miracle she survived, but six people perished, along with whatever remaining hope the town could be salvaged.

(JB) "Half of Picher was blowed away."
(John Sparkman) "I've never seen anything as black as those clouds were."
(SB) John Sparkman runs the local Housing Authority office, overseeing the government buyouts because of the toxic superfund site.
(JS) "We all knew we were going to have to say goodbye to the town at some point, but the tornado just kinda sped that process up for us."
(Background Music: "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails)
(JB) "I never thought I'd see a tornado take the town."
(SB) Jimmy, Joyce, and John... three of the last people in Picher. Tomorrow, we hear what it's like in Picher now... Steve Berg, A-M 740 and F-M 102.3... Newstalk KRMG.
(MUSIC FADES OUT)

Listen Here For The Audio Of Part One

(Script... Postscript From Picher Part Two)
(SONG: "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails)
(Steve Berg) Jimmy Bayliss says the town of Picher bears very little resemblance to the bustling mining town from his youth.
(Jimmy Bayliss) "There's nobody here."
(SB) He's lived here all his life.
(JB) "I have seen the town when it's a-boomin' and I've seen the town now when it's a-dyin'..."
(SB) He still works, as he has for the past 42 years, at one of the few remaining businesses in town... the Paul Thomas Funeral Home.
(JB) "This funeral home here has served many a many people."
(SB) Who better to pay his last respects to Picher.
(JB) "We've always had good people here."
(Sound of a spatula on a grill and grease in a deep-fat fryer)
Joyce Cox works at the drive-thru diner, the last place where you can buy a meal in town.
(Joyce Cox) "A lot of the kids are gone, y'know, and that's one of the main differences I see is that there aren't too many children around."
(SB) She survived a direct hit on her house by the tornado.
(JC) "My side of town, the Southwest side of town, it's wiped out... it's flat gone."
(SB) "Ground Zero... where the tornado was strongest... 4 square blocks are completely barren. The debris has all been cleared away and hauled off. The streets are still here of course, but there are no street signs, no stop signs, no utility poles... just the occasional slab foundation and a lone fire hydrant.
(John Sparkman) "Part of the healing process when you go through something like this would be a re-building process, but naturally with the buyout, we're not going to have that."
(SB) John Sparkman runs the Local Housing Authority. On the houses that are left in Picher, many have the letters T-B-C spraypainted in the window.
(JS) "Twin Bridges Company... that's the company that has the demolition contract."
(SB) So those houses will not be here much longer either.
(JS) "Either moved to a new location and resold or demolished."

(SB) Picher is a pretty lonely place.
(JS) "When you don't have anyplace where you can get gas or groceries or go to the café and grab something to eat, I mean, uh, we just don't have anything left here anymore..."
The few occasional visitors to Picher, Joyce says, are sometimes there just to gawk at the damage and the chat piles.
(JC) "We're just ordinary human beings. I guess they think we're kinda silly... I don't know."
(SB) Life in Picher a year after the tornado... Tomorrow, what they think it will be like a year from now.
Steve Berg... A-M 740 and F-M 102.3... Newstalk KRMG.

Listen Here For Part Two

Listen Here For Part Three Script "Postscript From Picher" Part Three
(SONG: "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails)
(Jimmy Bayliss) "It's a shame that our town had to go like this."
(Steve Berg) Jimmy Bayliss lived in Picher for nearly his entire life, until his home was bought out by the government. But he still drives into Picher each day for work at the Paul Thomas Funeral Home, the same place he's worked since he was in high school.
(JB) "I guess me and Paul will still be the last ones to turn the lights out."
(SB) They and the pharmacy and the bank and a diner are about the only businesses left.
This Friday is the final day for the school... Goodbye Picher Gorillas, the school mascot.
Pretty soon, they won't even be able to mail a letter... the post office is scheduled to close at the end of June.
(John Sparkman) "I'd say that 2009 will probably be the last year for Picher."
(SB) John Sparkman runs the local Housing Authority Office, supervising the government buyouts from the toxic Superfund site. He might literally be the last one to leave, and even though he too was born here, in many ways, he says, it will be a relief.
(JS) "Y'know after dealing with the EPA for 20-plus years, and then the tornado, it's time to lighten the load a little bit and start somewhere new."
(SB) He's been told the chat piles will take 15 years apiece to clear away.
(JS) "The chat will be here, but no people."
(SB) Jimmy's heard it all before.
(JB) "There is nothing that will clean this little town up. They just spent a lot of money for nothing."
(SB) At the diner, Joyce Cox, is feeling skeptical about her buyout which has been slow in coming, but not much worries her. After all she survived a direct hit in her house from the tornado.
(JC) "Bible says one day at a time, so that's the way I'll do it."
(JB) "I guess, the way they talk, we've got until November or December and then the whole town will be gone."
(JS) "It's just a day we all knew was going to get here sooner or later, and it's finally here."
(JB) "The old saying... Once you're a Gorilla, you're always a Gorilla. "I'll always be a Picher Gorilla... even after the town is completely gone."
(MUSIC FADES OUT)

On a rainy day in May...

(Sound of car driving on a rain-soaked road in Picher)
A car drives through the town of Picher... and keeps on going...

Listen Here For The Audio Of Part One

Listen Here For Part Two

Listen Here For Part Three

Postscript from Picher



Steve Berg, A-M 740 and F-M 102.3... Newstalk KRMG
KRMG

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Picher tornado accelerated plans to board up Superfund site

Picher Mayor Reeves says there will be no memorial service or marker remembering the seven people who died

May 10, 2009

PICHER — One year after a tornado ripped through Picher, destroying one-third of an already dwindling Tar Creek community, Picher Mayor Jeff Reeves said there will be no memorial service or marker remembering the seven people who died that day.

"Most people are just trying to go on and put it behind them as quickly as possible,” said Tim Reeves, Picher mayor.

About 150 people were injured on May 10, 2008.

Those who died were:

• Samuel Don Berry, 20, Picher.

• Tracie Dawn Berry, 19, Picher.

• Darrell Edward Patterson II, 28, Wagoner.

• Chizuri Cox, 80, Picher.

• Mistie Dawn Kelley, 30, Picher.

• Linda Christine Mathis, 48, Picher.

• Margie Irene Seamands, 84, Picher, died of carbon monoxide poisoning while using a generator after the storm.

After the EF-4 tornado slammed into Picher, 20 blocks were destroyed. More than one survivor called Picher a "war zone.”

It was the deadliest in the state since May 3, 1999.

The mile-wide vortex traveled 92 miles and ended near Neosho, Mo.

A second tornado formed and merged with the first tornado just east of Quapaw, according to reports from the National Weather Service.

The storm crossed the state line, killing 14 people in Missouri. The 175 mph winds destroyed or damaged 200 homes.

"The tornado sped up everything,” Reeves said, referring to a $60 million Tar Creek federal buyout. "Some people were not quite ready (to leave), but with the tornado, they didn’t have a choice.”

Most people, especially the elderly, thought there was a chance they could stay in Picher. About 125 people remain in the town.

"We will probably go through the end of the year,” Reeves said. "It’s hard to shut down a town.”

Picher was being abandoned before the tornado struck. Residents were being paid to leave because abandoned underground mine workings left the surface susceptible to collapse. The area is part of the Tar Creek environmental Superfund cleanup site.

Children have suffered lead poisoning over the years, and environmental cleanup associated with mine waste has been ongoing since 1983.

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More storms leave damage in Picher

Picher receives school damage in latest storm

May 9, 2009

Severe storms left most of northern Ottawa County without power and damaged an old school gymnasium in Picher on Friday morning, and cloudy weather is expected across much of the state this weekend.

About 60,000 Empire District Electric customers living in the tri-state corner of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri were without power Friday, including the communities of Picher, Quapaw and sections of Commerce, where Friday classes were canceled.

In Picher, almost a third of the old school gymnasium was torn apart by winds that gusted up to 65 mph, said Gary Brooks, Miami, OK, emergency management director. The storm hit the area around 7:15 a.m. There were no injuries or major damages reported in Oklahoma, but one confirmed death was reported in Kansas.

One year ago this weekend, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Picher, destroying a third of the town. Seven people were killed and 150 others were wounded. The 175 mph winds destroyed or damaged about 200 homes.

Today is to remain cloudy with continuing showers and thunderstorms and highs in the 60s to the lower 70s. Mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers are forecast again Sunday with highs returning to the 60s to lower 70s while overnight lows are to vary from the upper 30s in the Panhandle to the upper 50s in the southeast, the National Weather Service said.

The Oklahoma City forecast today shows a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with cloudy skies and a high near 66 with a north, northeast wind between 14 mph and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

In Oklahoma City tonight, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms is forecast with cloudy skies and a low of around 51 degrees with northeast winds between 8 mph to 10 mph. Sunday, there is a 40 percent chance of showers.

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Picher School Roof Damaged & Power Off In Area

Part of the roof of the Picher schools' old gymnasium was damaged in a Friday morning storm

May 9, 2009

PICHER — High winds swept through Ottawa County early Friday, knocking out power to tens of thousands and taking off part of the Picher schools' gymnasium roof.

No major injuries or damages were reported in Oklahoma, although the storm is blamed for the death of one person in Kansas.

By Friday afternoon, residents in Commerce were being urged to conserve water, because a generator couldn't be found for the town's well, said Mike Furnas, director of operations in Commerce.

Authorities reported power outages in Picher, Quapaw, Commerce and Miami. About 60,000 people were still without power Friday afternoon.

"People need to know the town of Commerce is running in emergency mode," Furnas said, adding that water should only be used to flush toilets and wash hands.

"We believe we have an emergency water source by switching to Rural Water District No. 7, but it is unknown at this time if they have the power to push water to Commerce's 2,700 residents," Furnas said.

Classes were canceled at Commerce schools.

"Winds gusting up to 65 mph have been reported from the storm that hit the northeast corner of Oklahoma around 7:15 a.m.," said Gary Brooks, Miami Emergency Management director.

Almost a third of the Picher schools' old gymnasium roof was ripped off, and a light pole was snapped at the football field.

A year ago this weekend, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Picher, killing seven people.

News OK

Part of the roof of the Picher schools' old gymnasium was damaged in a Friday morning storm

PICHER - Much of northern Ottawa County is without power this morning and several buildings were damaged after an early morning storm hit the area.

Picher and parts of Miami are without power as well as communities surrounding the Joplin, Missouri area. One confirmed death was reported in Kansas.

Gary Brooks, Miami Emergency Management director, said the storm hit the area around 7:15 a.m. Wind gusts up to 65 mph were reported, he said.

No major damages and no injures were reported in Oklahoma. Damages were limited to a couple of downed utility poles in Miami and downed limbs. Pockets of the city are without power, he said.

Almost a third of the Picher schools old gymnasium roof was ripped off and a light pole was snapped at the football field. Downed limbs and shingles ripped off some houses were also reported in Picher.

Authorities have reported power outages in Picher, Quapaw and Commerce and Miami. Utility crews are canvassing the area for damages and working to restore power at this time. It is unknown when all the power will be restored.Although not confirmed there were reports of a tornado in Kansas that traveled into Missouri, Brooks said.

One year this weekend an EF-4 tornado ripped through Picher destroying one-third of the community and killing seven people and wounding 150 people.

The 175 mph winds destroyed or damaged approximately 200 homes.

Tulsa World Correspondents

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Picher, One Year After Tornado

Picher today one year since the devistating twister that left it with dead and homeless

May 8, 2009

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Picher, One Year After Tornado

Picher today one year since the devistating twister that left it with dead and homeless

May 8, 2009

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Picher, One Year After Tornado

Picher today one year since the devistating twister that left it with dead and homeless

May 8, 2009

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Picher, One Year After Tornado

Picher today one year since the devistating twister that left it with dead and homeless

May 8, 2009

Its been one year since an EF4 tornado slammed into the town of Picher killing 6 people. It is one of many setbacks the small mining town has endured in recent years. The Environmental Protection Agency also considers the Tar Creek Superfund site to be one of the most toxic areas in the nation. Still some residents refuse to leave.

Some parts of Picher look like the tornado struck just yesterday. John Garner says, "I've lived here my whole life. I joined the military and traveled around the world. I came back here to raise my family."

Baseball great Mickey Mantle once played baseball in Picher. Today, the Yankee's little league jersey scattered on the field says it all. Picher is referred to as "The town that jack built." Jack, being the zinc ore, found in the mines.

Despite the town being flooded, contaminated, and nearly blown away, Garner says he is here to stay. He adds, "Some of these people have lived here their whole lives. We're talking 50, 60, 70 years. They have to pick up and move? Their stuff is paid off.. they raised their kids here and now they are scared."

Before the tornado, the government was already buying out about 700 properties in the area from those who accepted the offer. The offers were made in the shadows of the mountains of chat which are made of a hazardous waste product of lead and zinc mining.

The orange film on Tar Creek is a mixture of zink, lead, and other minerals which contaminate the ground water. A 1998 government report claims 24 percent of the children who lived nearby had such high lead levels they were at risk for brain damage. Not to mention, the unfilled mine shafts that cave in leaving giant holes.

Some people can't afford to move. That's why John Sparkman helps provide low-income housing for folks in Picher. However, he was recently scrutinized for continuing to rent-out properties in the town. He says, "We've had people come in and say we would rather have a house in a Superfund site than no house at all." He is now hoping for a federal grant to fund a new housing project in the nearby town of Fairland. Sparkman adds, "We've been renting to people on a regular, temporary basis ever since the first buyout. We have a shortage of housing in this area."

Picher is a town that has had its share of problems. The evidence can still be seen in the form of tornado debris. Picher officials say homes purchased through the buyout have not been cleaned up yet by the contractor. Most of the privately-owned homes have been cleared. There is no word on when the clean-up process will be done because the areas destroyed will never be rebuilt.

The cafe recently changed its name to "The last place in Picher." Inside you can find menu items like the "tar creek special" or how about the "chat rat pack"? Even Garner displays his sense of humor on his shirt. It says "Picher boy" and states he doesn't care about opinions of himself or his town. Garner adds, "After a while it's like I don't know.. I'll wait. If they come and knock on my door and shut my water off then I will tote it in buckets. You get sarcastic after a while."

Sarcasm aside, the once booming town is now virtually silent. Evidence of a better time now litters the chat piles. Chat piles, some say, led to the rise and fall of "The town that Jack built".

Experts have estimated there is enough chat near Picher to build a four-lane highway two times around the globe. Those who live here say they are coming to terms with the fact the future of Picher will not be as prosperous as the past.

A class-action lawsuit was filed April 2nd on behalf of the residents of Picher against members of the buy-out trust. It claims homeowners were not treated equally in the buy-out process.

As for those who've stayed, town officials say electric and gas service will continue.

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Two Story Building Collapses In Picher

Owner Gloria Garner-Workman surveys the damage Monday after a wall and the roof of a building she owns in Picher collapsed. She cited concerns about how the collapse will affect her ability to take advantage of the federal buyout under way in the former mining town.

May 04, 2009

PICHER, Okla. Part of a wall and much of the roof of a large, two-story building in Picher collapsed early Monday, scattering debris into a nearby street.

The building... at various times a grocery store, post office and Masonic lodge at 217 Connell Avenue... was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported.

Authorities put the collapse at sometime between midnight Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.

The collapse raised questions about the value of some of the properties in Picher whose fate remains unresolved.

Frustration Cited

The owner, Gloria Garner-Workman, 60, of Picher, expressed frustration Monday morning with the pace of the buyout by the Lead Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, and she wondered whether delays may now affect the value of the property. The federal buyout has been going on for more than two years.

Garner-Workman said "the building was struck by lightning a couple of years ago, damaging the roof."

“The hole was 6-by-6 or 6-by-8,” she said of the damage to the roof.

But because nearly a century of lead and zinc mining left large parts of Picher undermined, prompting the federal buyout, Garner-Workman said there was no point in spending thousands of dollars to repair the roof.

“There was no way they could move it,” she said of the building. “It was going to be destroyed anyway.”

Had the trust acted more quickly, Garner-Workman said, "maybe the value of the building would have been resolved before the damage was done... Were it sitting in any other community, it might be worth $40,000 to $50,000,00" but she said "because the building is in Picher, she is not sure of the value."

“There is no reason why this hasn’t been completed,” she said of the buyout, adding that "the more than two-year procedural effort has left many people in Picher unwilling to invest in homes and businesses, and possibly has created other similar hazards."

Financial Worries

Now she worries that she won’t receive anything for the building.

“Does it have a value, yet?” she said. “Are they going to tell me I don’t have anything to sell now that my building is gone?”

The building was being used just for storage, Garner-Workman said, and workers removed some of the contents later in the day.

Responding to Garner-Workman’s frustration about the federal buyout, Mark Osborn, chairman of the trust, said Monday:

“The pace of the buyout has gone as we have received money... We have gotten multiple appropriations... They come in increments of $5 million or $6 million.”

"The buyout, which began in 2006, should wrap up by the end of the year," Osborn said. It is now 80 percent complete.

Not only has the trust had to wait for appropriations, but it has had to have more than 600 properties appraised since the buyout began. When all is said and done, more than 700 properties will have been appraised.

“It is a $60 million project, and it takes time to do it right,” Osborn said.

Priority

The priority from the beginning, Osborn said, was moving out the men and women who remained in the Superfund site. Families with young children were moved out in a previous state-backed buyout.

“That state law was passed to move people out of their homes,” Osborn said.“These are properties that don’t really fit into the state’s law... How are we going to be able to value these structures? It’s complicated.”

He said a meeting is set for later this week for discussion of that exact topic.

He said the trust hopes to purchase all the buildings in Picher. Leaving properties behind would create a hazard, Osborn said, but he acknowledged that he wouldn’t have spent any money on a building in the town, knowing that it inevitably would be torn down.

In the meantime, Garner and her husband, Tom Workman, have begun cleanup of the building that once was an important piece of the dying community.

“I do remember as a child playing in here when it was the post office,” Garner-Workman said.

The bottom floor also was at one time a grocery store, Keithly’s Market, and the top floor was used as a Masonic lodge. Garner-Workman said tin ceiling tiles stamped with Masonic symbols are in the building, and she hopes to save some of those for historic-preservation purposes.

Andy Ostmeyer/Joplin Globe.

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One Of Picher’s Final Residents "Hoppy Ray" Remembers Town’s Heyday

Living History In Picher, Oklahoma

Orval “Hoppy” Ray is a lifelong resident of Picher and owner of Hoppy’s Museum
Note the window lettering to the right of Hoppy' I did that for him just after the tornado of May 10, 2008

May 04, 2009

PICHER, Okla. Picher, once a thriving town where hard-rock mining was a way of life, is slipping away with each passing day.

The descendants of families that have been here since the beginning of mining in 1917 are being bought out and relocated for fear the ground below them will collapse.

The houses they lived in and the churches they attended are being uprooted and moved, too. The schools are about to close. The end is near.

But there’s still music in Picher thanks to Orval “Hoppy” Ray, an 84 year old lifetime resident of Picher who might well be the last man standing when it’s all said and done.

“We get together every Monday night and play music... It’s mostly country and western... We have people who travel here from Arma, Kan., to hear us... I don’t even know where that is,’’ said Ray, with a laugh. “For me, it’s more grinnin’ than pickin’.”

The songs that are sung and the tunes that are played are the old standards. Some might have been performed nearly a hundred years ago when the first miners arrived here.

The group of local and area musicians gather in Hoppy’s Museum, the longest continuously operated business in Picher. The museum is a collection of artifacts from Picher’s past. There are miners’ lunch pails, hard hats and lamps. There are ore specimens, and photographs of miners and mines. There are images of everyday life when Picher was the most-productive lead and zinc mining site in the world.

But it’s the pictures in Hoppy Ray’s mind that tell the story. He saw it all.

Not much is left in Picher now, but Ray remembers the town’s heyday in vivid detail.

“We had three pool halls, two big skating rinks, six movie theaters and a vaudeville house,” he said.

“We celebrated Picher’s birthday every year. It was in 1936 or 1937 that they brought a prison band from McAlester over to play... They would put 55-gallon barrels of beer on the street corners... It didn’t make any difference how old you were, if you wanted a beer, you could get one.

“It was like a state fair or carnival... You could not get up and down the street for the people, and the sidewalks were 12 to 15 feet wide.’’

The miners spent a lot of their money in Picher’s bars.

“There were 22 bars in this town at one time... I think that’s where the phrase ‘bar hopping’ came from... One of them was called the Bucket of Blood... Across the street and about 30 to 40 yards up was the Bloody Knuckle... They were rough places... I never went to either one of them.

“And, there was Indian Joe’s... That’s where most of the Indians went.”

There were four bootleggers who operated near Picher’s police station. When Ray was a youngster, he rigged up a way to capture empty liquor bottles in Crap Creek. It was called that because a row of outside toilets had been lined up along the creek.

“I would get 2 cents to 4 cents a bottle from the bootleggers... I would wash them out in the creek and they would refill them with white lightening... You take a shot of that and it would knock the top of your head off,” he said.

Ray recalls a Cherokee woman who had lost her husband. To make ends meet, she sold half pints of whiskey from her house. One day her house was raided.

“There are no cuss words in the Cherokee language,” said Ray. “But they all knew that they were catching heck from her... They looked all over her house and found nothing... When they left, a man dropped by to buy a pint of whiskey.

“They looked outside to see if the men were still there... She then removes the oil cloth from her dinner table and opens it up... The middle leg of the table was full of half pints... I always liked that woman.”

He remembers the day he met Bonnie Parker, the love interest of gangster Clyde Barrow.

“She had family who lived at Sixth and College in Picher... We lived down on the other corner,” he said. “She came down to the house and visited with my mother for a while... Mom knew her... She told me who she was... I remember she had a limp... She was crippled... She was a little woman.”

Ray was there when the miners went on strike and rioted in the 1930's. He was there when part of the town caved in.

“When it caved in, the telephone poles dropped straight down... It did not break the lines... A shotgun house dropped down in there, too... The clothes line with it was as straight as a string,” he said.

Wally Kennedy/Joplin Globe

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Picher Cartoon

Cartoon concerning Picher's need of Federal assistance

Enjoy!


Picher Listed in America’s Top 10

America’s Top 10 Worst Man Made Environmental Disasters

April 3, 2009

Every year on Earth Day, we all pat ourselves on the backs for such small, basic acts as planting a tree or turning off the tap while brushing our teeth. But it’s important to remember the destruction we can cause every other day of the year.

Humans have turned screwing up the earth into an art form, skillfully wreaking havoc on the land, water and air through negligence, lack of concern or even the greedy desire to profit at all costs. American corporations are especially adept at causing severe damage to the environment and human health, and some of the worst offenders – including Exxon Mobil, Monsanto and W.R. Grace – have, by and large, gotten away with it.

From knowingly dumping toxic chemicals into a stream where children play to willfully ignoring the potentially devastating weaknesses of their own facilities, men have managed to create destruction on earth that rivals the wrath of Mother Nature herself. Here are America’s top 10 worst environmental disasters caused by people.

10. Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

American farmers love their chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and apply them liberally to their crops. Unfortunately, these chemicals – along with nitrogen-rich livestock waste – seeps from farmlands along the Mississippi River into the water and eventually, down into the Gulf of Mexico, where they have led to an oxygen-starved “dead zone” the size of New Jersey. Ocean dead zones cannot support sea life.

Nitrogen in the chemicals and animal waste spur the growth of algae, which is eaten by zooplankton. Those microscopic creatures then excrete pellets that sink to the bottom of the ocean and decay, a process that depletes the water of oxygen.

Researchers set out last July to study the dead zone, taking water samples and measuring the total affected area. Some water samples showed no oxygen at all, and smelled of hydrogen sulfide, a rotten egg smell that indicates organic sediments on the sea floor.

The dead zone has grown steadily over the past few decades. Though it tends to disappear in October once cold weather sets in, there’s a “legacy” left behind due to the fact that not all organic matter on the bottom decays in any given year. This means that even if the same amount of nitrogen is released into the Gulf year after year, the dead zone will get larger.

A recent study identified many of the sources of the nitrogen runoff along the Mississippi River, and the government plans to help states focus their pollution-reduction efforts to prevent some of the runoff from ending up in the river.

9. Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Ocean Trash Gyre, Eastern Garbage Patch or Pacific Trash Vortex, is a huge swirling mess of plastic in the North Central Pacific Ocean estimated by some to be the size of the United States. In fact, it’s even been referred to as the world’s largest garbage dump. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation found in 2008 that plastic outnumbers plankton in some areas of the patch by 48 to 1. Algalita’s education advisor Anna Cummins described the pollution just under the surface of the water as ‘plastic soup’.

It formed gradually over time as a result of marine pollution, gathered together in one area by oceanic currents, and may contain over 100 million tons of debris. Charles Moore, a California-based sea captain and ocean researcher who came upon the patch after competing in a sailing race, estimates that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, with the other 20% coming from ships.

Much of the plastic in this patch and elsewhere in the ocean end up in the digestive systems of sea creatures including turtles, jellyfish, marine birds and other sea life.


8. West Virginia/Kentucky Coal Sludge Spill

Did George W. Bush cover up a major environmental disaster during his presidency? In October of 2000, 300 million gallons of mercury- and arsenic-laced coal slurry flooded land, polluted rivers and destroyed property in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. The slurry had been contained in a huge reservoir by the Massey Energy Company, killing everything in the streams all the way up the Ohio River.

Jack Spadaro, head of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy (MSHA), a branch of the Department of Labor, initiated an investigation – but it was cut short when the Bush Administration, which had decided that the country needed more energy and less regulation of energy companies, took office. Spadaro had blown the whistle on his own regulators, saying they hadn’t done their job, and complained to the Labor Department’s inspector general.

In 2004, Spadaro had his office raided by government agents who went through his files, changed the locks on the doors and accused him of abusing his authority. He was demoted – silenced, some say, by the Bush Administration. His replacement, Dave Lauriski, was a former mining industry executive himself, and Massey Energy was off the hook. Spadaro had planned to cite the company for eight violations, but Laurinski cut it down to two and required just $110,000 in fines.

Years later, slurry remains on many of the properties that line the streams – it was never properly cleaned up.


7. Anniston, Alabama PCB Poisoning

For nearly 40 years, corporate giant Monsanto routinely dumped toxic waste into West Anniston Creek while producing now-banned industrial coolants called PCBs. They also dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into open-pit landfills – and proceeded to spend decades covering it up even after confirming that fish submerged in the creek turned belly-up within seconds.

Monsanto knew exactly how dangerous PCBs were, but decided not to warn the community – instead, ordering the conclusion of a study done on rats to be changed from “slightly tumorigenic” to “does not appear to be carcinogenic.” The company had enjoyed a four-decade-long monopoly over the PCB market and, as an internal memo revealed, decided that “We can’t afford to lose one dollar of business”. In fact, to this day Monsanto hasn’t apologized or taken responsibility despite the fact that they were forced to pay $700 billion in fines in 2003.



6. Picher, Oklahoma Lead Contamination

Picher, Oklahoma is a modern ghost town, all but abandoned after gigantic piles of lead-laced mine waste covered 25,000 acres and poisoned local residents. Acid mine water burned the nearby Tar Creek and turned it red. Sinkholes opened up in the mountains of mining waste, threatening to swallow the children who played there before anyone realized how dangerous it was.

The mines closed in 1970 and the area was declared a Superfund site in 1981, but its inhabitants weren’t ready to leave until 2006 when studies found that most churches, homes and the school were in serious danger of caving in. A federal buyout program allowed most of them to move elsewhere, but a few have chosen to stay behind despite the fact that there’s no water and no police. They can’t bear to let go of their town, which is so intimately tied with their own heritage.



5. Three Mile Island Nuclear Meltdown

During the last week of March, 2009, the world marked the 30th anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, which resulted in the release of up to 13 million curies of radioactive noble gases and remains the most notorious accident in the history of the American nuclear power industry.

The accident, which took place at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in 1979, was a partial core meltdown caused by failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck relief valve which allowed large amounts of reactor coolant to escape. Over the months that followed, the public mislead and outright lied to about the extent of the accident and its potential effects on nearby residents’ health.

The federal government did not keep track of the health histories of the region’s residents, and some say that the state of Pennsylvania hid the health impacts of the accident, deleting cancers from the public record and misrepresenting the facts that it could not hide. Anecdotal evidence suggests a far greater toll, however, with large numbers of central Pennsylvanians suffering skin sores and lesions after being exposed to the fallout and many developing visible tumors and breathing problems. While the nuclear industry maintains that “no one died at Three Mile Island”, it has continuously refused to allow an open judicial hearing on the hundreds of cases still pending.


4. Love Canal Toxic Dump

In the late 1800s, William T. Love envisioned a “model city” built near a canal that would connect the two levels of the Niagara River separated by the Niagara Falls. He barely started digging the canal before being forced to abandon the project due to lack of funds, and by the 1920s, it became a dumping site for the municipality of Niagara Falls. In the 1940s, Hooker Chemical was given permission to dump 21,000 tons of industrial chemicals at the site, covering it up with dirt and vegetation in 1952.

Hooker Chemical sold this land to the local school board for one dollar, and despite the dangers of the chemicals under the soil, a school was built on the dumping site. By 1955, a 25-foot area crumbled and exposed toxic chemical drums, which filled with water during rainstorms, creating huge puddles that the children liked to play in. The walls of the canal were also breached during construction of sewers for nearby low-income and single-family residences. None of these residents knew about the history of the canal, but by the 1970s, health effects became apparent.

Lois Gibbs, a local mother, discovered the truth about the chemical waste when investigating why so many, including her son, had severe health problems. High rates of asthma, miscarriages, mental retardation and other health problems along with reports of strange odors and substances, and a survey conducted by the Love Canal Homeowners Association found that 56% of the children born from 1974-1978 had a birth defect. Gibbs and other residents struggled through a three-year battle to call attention to the problem, finally making it a national media event in 1978. The government finally relocated Love Canal families and held Hooker Chemical liable for the damages through the Superfund act. Hooker, now Occidental Petroleum, was forced to pay $129 million in retribution, and the site was officially declared clean in 2004.


3. Libby, Montana Asbestos Contamination

The W.R. Grace plant in Libby, Montana continually spewed asbestos over the small town for decades, sickening over 1,000 people and killing over 200. “There’s never been a case where so many people were sickened or killed by environmental crime,” says David Uhlmann, who helped lead the federal case against the chemical company.

Plumes of smoke from the factory covered the town in tremolite asbestos, a particularly toxic form linked to a number of illnesses including mesothelioma. The government stated during last year’s court case that W.R. Grace conspired to “knowingly release” the asbestos and said the company tried to hide the dangers from employees and residents. The company, which is now bankrupt after facing over 270,000 asbestos-related lawsuits, was ordered to pay $250 million to clean up Libby on March 14th, 2009. W.R. Grace is also connected to numerous other contamination incidents, including an Acton, Massachusetts Superfund site.


2. Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill

By far the most notorious man-made environmental disaster in America’s history, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill of 1989 was devastating to the coast of Alaska when 10.8 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil was released into the secluded Prince William Sound, eventually covering 11,000 miles of ocean.

The oil tanker Exxon Valdez had been heading from the Valdez oil terminal in Alaska to Long Beach, California on March 23rd, 1989. The ship, which was on autopilot thanks to a couple sleep-deprived pilots, struck Bligh Reef, accidentally releasing about 1/5th of its total haul of oil. Cleanup began in April, and despite thousands of personnel helping over the next two years, it still has not been fully cleaned up 20 years later. In 2001, a survey found oil at 58% of the 91 sites assessed.

Prince William Sound, which had been a pristine ecosystem for a wild variety of wildlife, was devastated. 250,000 sea birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 orcas, and billions of salmon and herring eggs were killed immediately after the spill, but the oil continues to take its toll to this day. A 2006 study found that exposure to Exxon Valdez oil is still having a material impact on many shore-dwelling animals. Sea otters have yet to re-inhabit Herring Bay, and their overall numbers in the area have declined.

Exxon Mobil apologized for the spill and was fined $150 million, though $125 million was forgiven by the court in recognition of the company’s cooperation in cleanup efforts. Exxon paid an additional $100 million to the federal and state governments as restitution for damage caused to fish, wildlife and land, and agreed to pay $900 million in ten annual installments to civil claimants.

In 1994, an Anchorage jury found that Exxon acted recklessly and awarded victims of the spill $5 billion in punitive damages – an amount that was soon cut in half by an appeals court. The U.S. Supreme Court further cut the amount to $507.5 million in June 2008, but the plaintiffs still have not seen that money – Exxon is fighting the payout.


1. Tennessee Coal Ash Spill

Just when everybody thought the Exxon Valdez was the worst human-caused environmental disaster in U.S. history, a massive coal waste spill unleashed over a billion gallons of toxic sludge in Kingston, Tennessee. On December 22nd, 2008, a wall holding back 80 acres of sludge from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Fossil Plant gave way, pouring coal sludge – a byproduct of the ash from coal combustion – onto at least 300 acres of surrounding land. 15 homes were destroyed, and many more sit on land that is now contaminated with arsenic, mercury and lead.

TVA and state inspection reports show that the Tennessee Valley Authority knew for the past decade about leaks at the ash retention pond and failed to act. Worse yet, they failed to warn citizens about the dangers. 8 days after the spill occurred, TVA finally shed some light on just how serious the situation really was:

“In just one year, the plant’s byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems. And the holding pond … contained many decades’ worth of these deposits.”

Still, even as workers protected by HAZMAT suits picked through the sludge, the residents whose homes were affected by the spill were being told by TVA that they were safe. Meanwhile, TVA was arresting activists who were trying to warn citizens of the area about the dangers.

Despite their obvious culpability, the Tennessee Valley Authority is now seeking to have all resulting lawsuits against them dismissed. The utility believes that their own responsibility is to clean up the spill, not to pay damages to those who were affected by it. TVA has bought 71 properties tainted by the spill but rejected 166 more claims.

It will likely be many years before the public knows the full extent of the damage of this coal ash spill, but it has called attention to the lack of coal ash regulation and as a result, the EPA has finally indicated plans to get tougher on coal.

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Inside A Tornado

Vortex 2

Forecasters can't stop tornadoes, but they hope better science can save lives.

The goal of VORTEX 2 is to take special equipment into the field, surround a tornado, get all the information and data and then the team will take it back home, decipher the information and try to figure out what makes a tornado form.

VORTEX 2 deploys May 10th and runs through June 13th. It will deploy again next Spring.

April 28, 2009

NORMAN, OK -- An elite team of investigators is getting ready to track a killer. They don't wear badges or carry guns and you won't see them in an episode of CSI. In fact, you're more likely to see them on the Discovery Channel.

They're meteorologists and scientists and the killer they're hunting - tornadoes. The detective work they're planning this spring might one day save your life.

May 10, 2008: An EF4 tornado ripped apart what was left of the tiny town of Picher. Despite the warnings, six people died and 150 others were injured.

February 10, 2009: Another EF4 twister ravaged Lone Grove in southern Oklahoma. Eight people were killed and more than 100 homes destroyed.

These are disturbing stories of devastation and death. Forecasters can't stop tornadoes, but they hope better science can save lives.

"How do storms form a tornado? How long do they last? Why do they last that long? And then, what makes them dissipate," asked Mike Biggerstaff of the National Weather Center.

University of Oklahoma meteorologist Mike Biggerstaff hopes he and other scientists can answer those questions with Operation VORTEX 2.

"It's going to be the largest experiment to study tornadoes that's ever been conducted in the United States," said Biggerstaff.

Researchers are prepping for the project now at the National Weather Center in Norman. Meteorologists believe if they can understand tornado genesis, how a tornado is born, lives and dies, they'll be able to issue earlier warnings to people in the path of destruction.

"We can't tell you yet, with certainty, exactly where that tornado is going to form. And even then, if we could, wouldn't you like to know the difference between an F0 tornado that blows down your fence and an F5 tornado that takes down your house," asked Biggerstaff.

That's why beginning next month, nearly 100 meteorologists, scientists and student researchers from 16 universities will set out on a five-week long road trip to swarm super-cell thunderstorms with an arsenal of weather weapons.

The goal of VORTEX 2 is to take special equipment into the field, surround a tornado, get all the information and data and then the team will take it back home, decipher the information and try to figure out what makes a tornado form.

They'll get as close to tornadoes as they dare with mobile radars and cutting edge technology that can examine a twister from all angles, measuring everything from wind speed and air pressure to the size of rain drops.

VORTEX 2 may seem like something right out of a movie. You've probably seen the 1996 film "Twister."

Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt lead a ragtag team of storm chasers across Oklahoma trying to release a probe into the funnel of a tornado, all while dodging the dangers of disaster.

The risk can be just as real to the VORTEX 2 team, but Biggerstaff says the greatest obstacle will be coordination.

"It's hard to get 50 or 60 people, as you know, to do the same things at the same time, so this is a very challenging program," said Biggerstaff.

They'll crisscross the flatlands of the Midwest in an area that stretches from basically South Dakota down to the Texas panhandle, as far west as Colorado and as far east as Iowa.

"Tulsa is not included in the plans for VORTEX 2 simply because of the terrain and the vegetation," said Biggerstaff.

It would be a logistic nightmare to swarm a storm in the hills and valleys of Green Country, Biggerstaff said. But he said if Tulsa was under the gun, the team couldn't pass up the opportunity.

"We need to save lives and we need to try to mitigate damage to property," said Biggerstaff. "This is a challenging problem that probably won't be solved even with this tremendous data set, but we're going to make a big advance toward that direction."

For the first time, scientists were able to document the entire life cycle of a tornado during the original VORTEX program of the mid 90's. That research is credited for improving severe weather warnings.

The goal now is to build on that success.

VORTEX 2 deploys May 10th and runs through June 13th. It will deploy again next Spring.

The federal government, the National Science Foundation, 10 universities and three non-profit organizations are picking up the tab for the almost $12 million program

VORTEX InformationBy Chief Meteorologist Travis Meyer, News On 6

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Inside A Tornado

Vortex 2

story

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Tar Creek Residents File Civil Lawsuit

Named... Relocation Trust Operations Manager Larry Roberts; Cinnabar Service Co. Inc.; Van Tuyl and Associates; Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment J.D. Strong; State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.; Allstate Insurance Co.; America First Insurance Co.; American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida; American Modern Home Insurance Co.; National Security Fire and Casualty Co.; Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.; and Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.

April 3, 2009

Dozens of Tar Creek residents have joined a civil lawsuit against the chief appraiser and others involved in theFederal Relocation Plan in Tar Creek, alleging that they were pressured into accepting low-ball buyout offers for their property, records show.

Fifty-six residents and former residents are named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Tulsa County District Court. The residents are seeking the recovery of damages allegedly caused by the relocation.

The plaintiffs resided in the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Ottawa County and are part of a $60 Million Federal Buyout of lead-polluted homes and businesses.

The Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust is overseeing the voluntary buyout which was announced in 2006.

The relocation trust hired Cinnabar Service Co. Inc. and Van Tuyl and Associates, both of Tulsa, to oversee the management, assessment and appraisal of Tar Creek homes and businesses qualifying for the federal buyout.

Other defendants are Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment J.D. Strong; relocation trust operations manager Larry Roberts; State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.; Allstate Insurance Co.; America First Insurance Co.; American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida; American Modern Home Insurance Co.; National Security Fire and Casualty Co.; Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.; and Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.

As part of the federal buyout, Tar Creek residents are being offered a fair-market value for homes and businesses that have been devalued due to their location within the Superfund site.

The Superfund Site is listed as one of the most polluted sites in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list of polluted areas.

The lawsuit alleges that the relocation trust has routinely low-balled buyout offers for Tar Creek homes and pressured homeowners into accepting such offers.

Insurance carriers are accused of low-balling the payouts on insurance claims by residents affected by the May 10, 2008 tornado which struck the Picher area, destroying dozens of homes.

The lawsuit also alleges that the state law governing the buyout process was wrongly amended June 2, 2008, in connection with the tornado.

The buyout process was amended so that insurance proceeds for destroyed or damaged homes would be deducted from the buyout offer for a residence qualifying for the buyout.

The lawsuit also alleges that the relocation trust has violated the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act by convening into executive session to discuss appraisals of property.

Tulsa World Staff Writer

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It’s Desperation... It’s Like Having A Gun Held To Your Head

Picher's Peril: Some Claim Buyout Undervaluing Homes

ARCHIVE CONCERNING PICHER BUY OUT

CARDIN, Okla. Tommy and Alice Sharbutt made ends meet on his military pension and her retirement income.

Sharbutt, who served two stints in Vietnam, tinkered on cars in his garage to make money on the side. The couple lived in a 67-year-old, three-bedroom house on narrow lots at 103 Wade St., in Cardin.

In January 2005, they decided to refinance. The appraiser for the mortgage company found three comparable properties in Miami. The comparables, based on recent sales, were valued at $76,000, $80,500 and $75,000, respectively. The houses were 54 years, 84 years and 46 years old. The appraiser valued the Sharbutt property at $75,000.

Tommy died of cancer on Sept. 1, 2007. A few weeks later, his widow received an offer from the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, which is handling the $50 million buyout and relocation of property owners in the Picher-Cardin area.

The buyout and relocation of families from the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Northeast Oklahoma is the culmination of more than 30 years of struggle for the people of Picher and Cardin.

The Picher Mining Field, one of the richest lead and zinc deposits in the world, was the site of intense underground mining nearly 100 years ago. The mining took place during a time when environmental regulations were virtually non-existent.

When the mining companies ceased operations here in the 1970s, the region was left with an uncertain legacy of pollution that impacted the health of local residents. Children were especially vulnerable to a toxic mix of heavy metals. The lead-poisoning rate among children at one time was as high as 30 percent.

A $100 million effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove lead from residential yards damaged many homes. The region's status as a Superfund site further devalued properties.

A recent federal study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that large areas in Picher and Cardin could collapse at any time. That finding triggered the $50 million buyout of more than 700 properties that is now under way.

Alice Sharbutt received an offer of $50,200 for property on which she still owes $58,000.

Paul “Huck’’ Sharbutt, who is now helping his brother’s wife with her affairs, said, “I figured they would get in the neighborhood of at least $80,000. When we started asking questions about it, it was like: ‘Who are you? You ain’t nobody.’ It was either take it or leave it.

“I kept telling my brother before he passed on that things would be OK for Alice. That the buyout would help her,” he said. “I think it would have really upset him if he were still alive today.

“I was just sick when I saw the offer. She said, ‘I can’t believe that’s all you are going to offer on it.’”

Huck decided to dig deeper... The appraisal indicated the house had two bedrooms instead of three... There are two outbuildings on the property; the appraisal showed one... A 400-square-foot garage was omitted... The house has central air and heat... That was omitted, too.

Said Sharbutt: “The only way you can go back and ask for a review is if there is a discrepancy. So, we took this back before them and called this to their attention. The first time they said ‘no.’ The second time they sent it back, they raised the offer to $52,100.’’

Sharbutt then looked at the comparables the buyout appraiser used. One sold in 2006 for $38,000 at Commerce... It was a two-bedroom house built in 1915... The other comparables were two three-bedroom houses in Miami that sold in 2006 for $42,500 and $42,000... They were built in 1920 and 1938... The comparable houses were 12 to 25 years older than Alice’s home... None had central heat and air.

“The comparables used by the mortgage appraiser are all similar to my brother’s house... One of them even has a gabled front porch like his did,” Sharbutt said. “The appraiser for the trust said these lending companies will go out and get the highest appraised value so that they can lend you more money."

"But Alice’s mortgage appraisal was for $75,000... the lowest of the comparables... If the mortgage appraiser wanted to lend the most money to her, the highest comparable would have been used,' he said.

“They can’t lend you that much more money than the house is actually worth... It makes no sense at all what’s happening here in Picher and Cardin with this buyout... It’s terrible,” he said. “My sister-in-law is going to have to borrow money to move, if she can... She’s 64... That’s not right."

“What’s really not right is when you know a dump of a trailer house in Picher has got an offer of $47,000... It’s not even a stick house,” he said.

The Complaints

Though trust members and a state official overseeing the buyout have repeatedly said the acceptance rate on offers is as high as 95 percent and that only a vocal minority is causing trouble, records show the independent appraisers hired by the primary contractor, Cinnabar Services of Tulsa have been dogged by complaints from the start of the buyout process last year.

Some residents say they are accepting whatever is offered because their properties in Picher and Cardin essentially have no value because of where they live... Any offer to get out is a good offer because it is likely to be the only offer they will get.

“It’s desperation. It’s like having a gun held to your head,” said Missy Beets, who believes her house was undervalued by thousands of dollars even after a review appraiser increased the offer from $70,000 to $75,000.

“I believe the trust and its contractor, Cinnabar, have attempted to manipulate and pressure us into accepting appraisal offers by purposefully withholding information that we needed to make these life-changing and difficult decisions,” she said.

In a recent letter to the trust, Beets also alleged: “We believe that Cinnabar, and therefore the trust, have routinely committed fraud in inflating some appraisals and using strong-arm tactics to force others to accept low offers.”

Cinnabar was awarded a $1.8 million contract to do appraisals and property acquisitions. The company, in a subcontract arrangement, hired independent appraisers to do the work. When those appraisers finish, the appraisal is handed over to the trust for approval. It then goes to Cinnabar.

An acquisition agent for the company then meets with the property owner. Local residents allege they cannot get straight answers about the values given for their properties because the agent did not do the appraisal.

They also say they don’t receive detailed information about the comparables unless they ask for it, and that they are often treated rudely by representatives of the company when seeking comparables. “Take or leave it” is a phrase some property owners say they have been told.

Beets wrote in her letter: “One only needs to compare the abbreviated appraisal reports provided by Cinnabar to those of Universal’s for the first buyout to see the difference in the thoroughness with which Universal approached the appraisal process."

“The process is one where Cinnabar simply provides the buyout offer with no background information on how it was derived or what is included in the offer. We are left with no way of knowing whether the offer is a good one,” she said.

The process differs from the first buyout, which was handled by Universal Field Services of Tulsa. That $3 million buyout involved about 50 families with children.

Clark Andrew, with Universal, said, “We did the appraisals with our own staff appraisers. We had only our appraisers do the work and only one reviewer. That lent consistency to the process. We did not subcontract out any of the appraisal work."

“Some folks were unhappy, but it was a very small number. We showed the property owners the comparable sales and the adjustments were shown to show how the value was arrived at. The appraisal involved a number of pages,” he said.

Universal went outside the immediate market, which Cinnabar was instructed to do as well, though comparables that Cinnabar used include properties in Commerce and Quapaw, which are closer to Picher and Cardin than Miami.

“We were told to get our comparables from Miami and not from the impacted area. We tried to support the highest value we could, but not anymore than they were due. We wanted to support the highest value the market could support, but we treated these appraisals like any other public project we have appraised,” Andrew said.

Problems Arise

Betty Jo Cagle, one of three review appraisers hired by the trust for the larger, second-round of buyouts, said there were problems. Cagle, as recently as a month ago in a meeting at the Picher home of Missy Beets, said "the first 25 or so appraisals should have been redone because the process was inconsistent."

“They had almost 200 appraisals done before they hired the review appraisers months later," she said. "Usually, the review appraisers are hired at the same as the appraisers.”

Trust records also show lots have been missed that should have been counted... Leased lots that should not have been counted have been added... Vacant houses on properties that should not have been counted have been added... Bedrooms and bathrooms have been miscounted... Wood-frame houses have been valued as trailer homes and vice versa... Garages have been omitted... Incorrect legal descriptions of properties have been used... The age of some properties was wrong.

In one instance, virtually identical houses in similar condition built by the same housebuilder at the same time were given values $10,000 apart. The values of some appraisals have been raised without follow-up inspections of those properties by the review appraiser, records show.

Of the 260 appraisals done to date, more than 50 have been reworked, records show. That’s nearly 20 percent!

Beets and other residents, including Aletha Redden and John Frazier, even contend they have been blackballed by the trust because they have publicly challenged the fairness of the appraisals.

Small yellow signs recently began appearing in front of houses and trailer homes in Picher that were acquired by the trust to show how much the property owner received per square foot so residents can judge for themselves whether the buyout offers are fair.

Official Reaction

Robert Parmele Jr., co-owner of Cinnabar, admits mistakes have been made... He said mistakes are expected in a buyout of such scope, but only 10 of 270 property owners rejected the initial offer.

“An appraisal is an opinion based on the best market data the appraiser can find, the condition, size of the house and amount of land... There are many, many variables that affect the value of a piece of property.”

He also denied that homeowners were told to “take it or leave it.”

“The property owner has 15 days to say yes or no to the offer, or they can ask the trust to take another look at it,” he said. “They have a 15-day time period... There is no negotiation.”

Members of the trust met three weeks ago with representatives of Cinnabar to go over the appraisal process in preparation for the next phase of the buyout. The mid-course meeting was set before Picher residents became more vocal about what they saw as unfairness in the appraisal process.

J.D. Strong, who monitors trust activities for the state, said the meeting was held to see whether the process could be streamlined to increase accuracy and reduce error. The meeting was not called because residents of Picher and Cardin complained.

“The result of that meeting was that there wasn’t much modification that needed to be made to the process or that would be necessary... The trust just does not believe that is this case at all... I don’t see it from my end."

“It’s a human process that’s based on the best professional judgment... We have hired experienced appraisers to do the job.”

Asked about the number of errors made by appraisers, Strong said a big difference when comparing the first buyout to the second is the scale. About 50 properties were involved in the first buyout, which was completed in 2005. About 700 will be appraised and acquired this time.

“The first buyout took a couple of months... We have been at this for well over a year now, and we’re not even half way done,” Strong said. “When you are doing so many, the opportunity for error increases.”

Strong said no one has been asked to do what the appraisal company is being asked to do: Establish values for properties in an artificially devalued area.

“People need to understand there is a fair amount of best professional judgment in this to zero in on a value... We know it’s a difficult process all the way around... Occasional mistakes have been made... There is no way you cannot make mistakes in this process... But over half of the offers accepted have been accepted on the spot.”

Larry Roberts took over as operations manager of the trust after the first manager, Sonya Harris, resigned after complaining about the low offers property owners were receiving. Roberts said the property owners are getting detailed appraisal offers.

“We hired certified appraisers... By not having the appraiser meet with the property owner, it takes any politics out of it... Those things they say are happening are not happening,” he said.

“If there is a question, we will go over the appraisal report with the client and show them how the value was arrived at... We are using the same guidelines the state of Oklahoma uses.”

Roberts noted that "some who have accepted offers have had letters placed in their files that state they accepted the offer under duress, but that most people were happy with the offers they had received."

Offer Accepted

Among those who have accepted offers are Robert Smith, Susie Bryant, Darlene Evans, Gary Garrett and Amanda Davis.

Smith, who moved from a single-wide trailer home on leased land to a house in Baxter Springs, Kan., said he "got a fair price... It was pretty good deal.” He declined to talk about specifics.

Susie Bryant, who moved from a four-bedrooom house in Picher to a three-bedroom house in Miami, said, “I think I did OK... The people I talked to were very polite and professional... I would have liked to have had more, but with circumstances like they were, it was a good offer and an opportunity for me to move.”

Darlene Evans moved from a house on leased land at Hockerville to a house in Commerce. She said: “It’s a better house, but I had to get a loan to get the new house... I am on oxygen and our road here is paved... It was a pretty good deal with the trust... There ain’t no sense in complaining or griping.”

Gary Garrett, who moved from Cardin to Miami, said, “I did not get anything for my swimming pool, but I wanted out of there... I think it’s unsafe to live there."

“I felt like my offer was fair, but I brought this up about the poor people who are having to get low-interest-rate loans to move out of there... Those people can’t make a house payment... They barely have enough to pay groceries and utilities.”

Garrett, who has a pulmonary disease, said "I was not shown the comparables for his property, but he knew what his property was worth because he is a building inspector by profession."

“The trust set the rules. It was take it or leave it," he said. "I know some people in Cardin and Picher are not getting enough money... The idea of the buyout is to get people out of there... I raised this concern several times, but it has fallen on deaf ears... I feel lucky to get what I got.”

Amanda Davis, who moved from Picher to a rental unit in Miami, said, “It was a fair offer... We were impressed with the company... They made the process very simple.”

Davis also said: “We had no choice but to take it... We have a 1-year-old son... We were not willing to take that chance with him."

“This was a very emotional thing for us... The home we were living in had zero value... We weren’t expecting to get rich from the offer... Because of the Environmental Protection Agency and what they did, our home was completely flooded underneath... It was full of mold... That took the value of our home to zero... And, we were in a Superfund site... We got $73 a square foot, and it was worth nothing."

“We got a really great offer, but the offer for our church wasn’t very good... Our church got $30.14 a square foot... That was not fair, but they decided to take it and move on... If you decline, you are stuck there.”

Globe

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Picher Residents Sue In Buyout Disputes

We’re taking it right to them, right in their own back yard...

April 02, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Two lawsuits were filed Thursday on behalf of residents of Picher and Cardin who allege they were treated unfairly when their homes were purchased in a federally funded buyout in the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

One of the lawsuits was filed in federal court in Tulsa County. It seeks monetary damages from two appraisal companies, Cinnabar Service Co., and Van Tuyl and Associates; eight insurance companies; and two individuals, J.D. Strong and Larry Roberts.

Strong is Oklahoma’s secretary of environment and the state’s adviser to the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, which is overseeing the voluntary buyout in the former lead and zinc mining field. Roberts, a former state representative, manages the day-to-day operations of the trust.

Jeff Marr and John Wiggins, the lead attorneys, explained the lawsuits to more than 100 affected residents Thursday night in the community room of the Picher Housing Authority.

About the federal suit, Marr said: “We’re taking it right to them, right in their own back yard. When we get done, they’re going to know they have been in a fight.”

The statement was the first of several to elicit applause and shouts of support from those attending the meeting.

Efforts to reach Roberts for comment before publishing this article were unsuccessful.

Two Class Actions

The second lawsuit, filed in Ottawa County District Court in Miami, seeks class-action status for two groups of residents. One group is alleging that the trust abused its authority and intentionally undervalued properties. The second group is alleging that the trust wrongfully deducted private insurance benefits from the buyout payments granted by the trust.

Insurance settlements were paid to many residents of Picher after a May 10, 2008, tornado destroyed or damaged more than 160 homes there. The lawsuit says those with insured properties were treated unfairly when compared with those who were uninsured. The lawsuit notes: “To add insult to injury, those with insurance were not even reimbursed by the trust for insurance premiums they have paid.”

Wiggins said the lawsuit in state court will challenge the constitutionality of a law that was passed when the trust was created. The law prohibits individuals from filing lawsuits against the trust. Wiggins said, “You can’t take taxpayers’ money and spend it, and cheat people and make it so that you can’t do anything about it.”

Wiggins said the state suit seeks an injunction to stop the trust “from cheating you folks, like we believe they have been doing.” The suit seeks the appointment of an overseer of the trust. It also seeks an audit and reappraisals of all properties.

The lawsuit alleges that the appraisers and the trust intentionally “low-balled” many of the buyout offers, but provided more favorable treatment to those who had connections to the trust.

The lawsuit also alleges that many decisions made by the trust behind closed doors were in violation of Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act, and that all actions taken in those sessions should be declared invalid.

Marr said Strong and Roberts are not members of the trust and should have not been allowed to attend those closed-door sessions. He also said representatives of the appraisal companies also should not have been present at those meetings, but were.

The lawsuit seeks to make public all records, including tape recordings, of what transpired during those sessions.

‘Justice Is Coming’

Marr said it is clear what was taking place in those meeting. “They were not being advocates for you,” he said.

The court also is being asked to reimburse amounts deducted by the trust for private insurance or Federal Emergency Management Agency payments.

Missy Beets, who was among the first Picher residents to challenge the trust about the valuation of properties, said: “I’m excited. We’ve waited a long time, but I feel that justice is coming. I am so very thankful for everything these lawyers have done for us.”

John Frazier, another former Picher resident who believes his property was low-balled, said: “We asked a lot of people for help, and we did not get any. It’s good to see someone is standing up for us.”

With tears in her eyes, Aletha Redden, a Picher resident who has refused her buyout offer, said: “This has been a long time coming for us. We are human beings like everyone else. I was not only low-balled, I was blackballed. Now, we have finally got someone to listen. Thank you.” Wiggins and Marr, both of Oklahoma City, successfully represented 71 victims of a May 1999 tornado near Oklahoma City in a class-action suit involving claims against an insurance company. One plaintiff received a $13 million settlement.

Residents have said they accepted what they characterized as “take-it-or-leave-it” offers in the buyout because it might be their only chance to get something for their properties, which are at the heart of the Tar Creek Superfund Site in the former mining belt.

In statements early last year, Robert Parmele Jr., president of Cinnabar Service, and Strong, state adviser to the trust, said mistakes were made with some of the appraisals, but that steps were taken to correct the deficiencies.

Buyout Plan

The state of Oklahoma is overseeing the $60 million buyout of about 700 properties because of public-safety risks associated with the potential for cave-ins. The buyout should conclude later this year.

wkennedy/joplinglobe

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Another Medical Monitoring Class Action Is Shut Down

Owner of two mining companies that had dumped mining waste into Picher ponds and large above-ground piles for years

April 03, 2009

For 70 years the Tar Creek area of northeastern Oklahoma was mined for lead and zinc ore.

In the last decade, after the Environmental Protection Agency declared the area a Superfund site and testing showed elevated lead levels in the blood of some children, residents of the area filed a battery of suits against Peabody Energy, the owner of two mining companies that had for years dumped mining waste into ponds and large above-ground piles.

On Thursday, an Oklahoma federal district court judge denied class certification in the most significant of the cases, which sought compensation for lost property value and medical monitoring for residents who live near the waste sites.

In dismissing the case, Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled that the EPA and the state had already compensated putative class members for the full value of their property through a relocation process.

The judge also said that medical monitoring is not a remedy under Oklahoma law for plaintiffs who don't show symptoms--and none of the name plaintiffs in the class action exhibit the effects of lead poisoning.

An earlier suit against Peabody on behalf of a class of children whose blood showed elevated lead levels settled for an undisclosed amount in 2007.

The dismissal follows a minitrend of federal judges tossing medical monitoring classes. A Pennsylvania judge threw out a case seeking monitoring for beryllium poisoning last October, two months after a judge in Missouri dismissed a class action seeking medical monitoring for patients with a particular medical device.

Peabody Energy was represented by John Sherk, Kirk Marty, Rebecca Schwartz, and Stanley Davis of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Plaintiffs counsel was Seeger Weiss, the Speer Law Firm, and Reich & Binstock.

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Ground Opens In Picher

Large sinkhole opens in resiential area in Picher

March 19, 2009

A cave-in was reported Wednesday morning along East Second Street, but it posed no threat to nearby houses.

Ed Keheley, a rural Picher resident who monitors cave-ins ing the community, said he was called about the collapse Wednesday morning, suggesting it might have happened Tuesday.

"It's a mine shaft at the north corner of East Second and Mabel Street," he said in a telephone interview.

"It was part of the Keltner Mine. It's been sealed for 60 years or so."

The opening, which measures about 20 feet wide, is across the street from the Rick Huffman home. It does not pose a threat to the residence, and it is unlikely that the collapse will expand, Keheley said.

Keheley said the mine shaft was closed using a popular technique employed 60 years ago. Old, narrow-gauge railroad track from the mines was placed across the opening. It was covered by a concrete slab.

Keheley said the track in that style of cap rusts away. When that happens, the concrete slab collapses of its own weight.

"This will continue to happen as thse old mine-shaft plugs rust away," he said. "It'spart of the legacy we are left with here."

Property owners in Picher and Cardin are being bought out and relocated because of the threat of collapsing ground. Picher, much of which is undermined, was once the heart of the Picher Mining Field, the largest lead and zinc-mining district in the world.

The last of mines ceased operations in the 1970s.

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Tornado Season Returns For The 2009 Season

Tornado activity has began in the 4 state area already this year

March 19, 2009

Above The Average

The United States logged 1,690 tornadoes in 2008 that caused damage in excess of $1.8 billion.

The number of twisters in 2008 was well above the 10-year average of 1,270, and it ranks as the second highest annual total since reliable records began in 1950.

The tornadoes caused 1,700 injuries and 125 deaths, making 2008 the 10th deadliest year since 1950, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

The record was set in 1953, when 519 people were killed.

The May 10 tornado that swept through Picher, Okla., and across Newton County was among the 10 most powerful tornadoes to strike in 2008, according to the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

The tornado, which packed winds of nearly 175 mph and tracked for 74 miles, claimed six lives in Picher and 14 in Newton County.

La Niña

When compared with last year, 2009 is off to a slow start when it comes to tornadoes. But, the ingredients are there for another stormy spring.

New research has shown a connection between the occurrence of a La Niña in the Pacific Ocean and volatile weather in the Midwest.

La Niña, a periodic cooling of waters in the Pacific Ocean, is the flip side of the better-known El Niño phenomenon.

La Niña shifts the polar jet stream into a position in which storms from the west collide with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

When that happens, the jet stream — a shifting river of air at high altitudes — brings an abundance of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico into the Midwest.

That, coupled with high winds and a storm system with cooler air from the west, provides the primary ingredients for violent weather.

The research found that tornadoes during a La Niña are stronger and track greater distances.

Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center, said the La Niña-El Niño cycle was in a neutral phase until January, when a new La Niña started to show its influence.

Last year’s La Niña was the strongest in a decade.

“We have a La Niña that’s ongoing right now, but it’s not quite as pronounced as last year,” Carbin said. “It is expected to weaken this spring. That connection between La Niña and severe weather in the Plains is tenuous. But it was certainly the case last year. It was a busy year all around.”

Unlike last year, the country so far this year has experienced relatively quiet conditions for severe weather.

“Thunderstorm activity is expected this spring,” Carbin said. “It gets more active regardless of whether there’s a La Niña in place. Another ingredient that is a factor, and it’s closer to home, is the sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico.

“When that temperature is above normal, it helps the return of moisture to the Plains states. It provides the fuel for thunderstorm activity. Those temperatures are now slightly above the long-term normal.”

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Agencies Alert After Sinkhole Opens In Picher

This hole opened up Wednesday afternoon in Picher at the corner of 2nd Street and Mable

March 19, 2009


The sinkhole is about 15 feet across and drops to about 40 feet into standing water. The road in the photo is 2nd Street

PICHER — A large sinkhole opened Wednesday on Bureau of Indian Affairs land about four blocks east of downtown Picher, Quapaw Police Chief Gary Graham said.

"The area was marked off and the BIA notified,” Graham said.

Both agencies plan to provide extra coverage of the area, he said.

The sinkhole is about 15 feet across with a drop of about 40 feet to standing water.

The hole is in an empty lot near houses.

Graham said he did not know whether the houses surrounding the sinkhole are occupied.

City officials learned about the sinkhole Wednesday morning after receiving a call from a trash service employee.

Picher is the center of the former Tar Creek mining district.

The state is overseeing a second Tar Creek property buyout after a 2006 report showed hundreds of homes, businesses and churches in the Picher, Cardin and Hockerville area could cave in.

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Sinkhole Develops In Picher

Officials say the sinkhole is about 15 feet across and drops to about 40 feet into standing water

March 19, 2009

PICHER, Okla. (AP) -- A large sinkhole has opened near downtown Picher.

Police say the sinkhole is about 15 feet across and drops to about 40 feet into standing water.

The hole is on Bureau of Indian Affairs land in an empty lot near houses but officials say they don't know if anyone is living in the houses.

Picher is in the contaminated Tar Creek Superfund area where home- and business owners are being bought out.

Reports show hundreds of homes, businesses and churches in the area could cave in because of underground tunnels after years of mining.


8/6/2006 Related story: Sink Hole Opens By A Highway Near Quapaw

Sink Hole Opens By A Highway Near Quapaw

Updated: Aug 7, 2006

Old mines continue to cause problems in northeastern Oklahoma. Another sinkhole has surfaced along Highway 69 in Ottawa County. People who live nearby are worried that authorities are not taking the problem seriously.

News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren says the area near Picher and Quapaw has long been plagued by sinkholes.

"That is a doozy." The mining industry that built the town is also the industry that's breaking the area down. "So the mine itself goes in under the fence and into the pasture." John Sparkman is from Picher. He's been keeping an eye on the problem for years.

Sunday, a sinkhole that's already been patched once, reopened along highway 69A just north of Quapaw. "We came out here this morning and the hole had opened up to about 15 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep in one section."

People very familiar with the problem fear this sink hole could be the tip of the iceberg. Its proximity to US 69 could make for a much bigger problem. "And the mine does run under US 69A. So there is a threat here." He worries that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation doesn't share that fear. For the second time they filled the hole with dirt.

Sparkman says that's even more dangerous than leaving a gaping hole. "But you can not keep playing Russian roulette with these mine collapses. We've done that too long. Something bad's going to happen if we really don't start addressing the problems up here."

ODOT has studied nearby areas. But Sparkman says engineers need to study the exact area around this hole.

That's what they're doing a few miles away in Picher. That sinkhole surfaced years ago and is monitored closely for new movement.

In fact, heavy trucks can't drive on that section of highway. They're diverted to highway 69A, where the latest hole has reopened.

An ODOT spokesman says maintenance workers are now watching the area closely. They drive by several times a day looking for any signs the dirt is moving further.

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Mennonite Disaster Service Responds To Picher Twister

MDS Builds Home To Inspire Others

You won't find this newsbreaking article in local media...

Picher, OK

January 30, 2009 - Category: General

A tornado ripped through Picher and surrounding areas on May 10, 2008. The actual town of Picher will not be rebuilt, as it is a Superfund Site, and in the midst of government buyouts due to toxic waste. But many people live outside the reaches of Picher proper, have their own water and are not impacted by the Superfund buyout.

That also means they are somewhat forgotten. One such homeowner is Dennis Darnell. When the tornado was approaching his home, he fled to a nearby ditch for protection, and held onto the tall grass. The tornado came and “moved his home totally off of its foundation, and dropped it 100 feet away, essentially disintegrating it,” said MDS Project Director Jerry Wyse.

MDS set up a project site in nearby Miami, Oklahoma, with the help of MDS area coordinator Bill Mast, in conjunction with Twyla Snider, a caseworker for Community Disaster Recovery Coalition. In less than 12 months the area has had three federally declared disasters—tornadoes and floods.

The Ottawa County area of Oklahoma, where Picher sits, is home to 10 Native American tribes.

“Thank God for church agencies,” Snider said. “People get action and deed.” In eight days the house was framed and closed in by a variety of MDS volunteers.

The house that MDS is currently working on has been called a “seed house.” “The concept is to build relationships and serve needs,” noted Henry Dueck of Boissevain, Manitoba. The hope is that hesitant survivors whose houses need rebuilding will be encouraged to seek help from MDS after seeing this house built.

Wyse also referenced the needed relationship side of this project. “Listening can be so much more important even than productivity.”

This initial house should be finished in a matter of weeks. Most of the work has been done by local day volunteers, such as a group of 10 volunteers from the Chetopa Amish Church. Homeowner Darnell has also worked alongside volunteers, along with his brother-in-law.

The Lord has provided the volunteers who put things together in a very quick fashion. Everyone is excited about the progress,” added Wyse.

“You go to bless, but you come home blessed,” Dueck said.


Who We Are

Mennonite Disaster Service is a volunteer network through which various constituencies of the Anabaptist church can respond to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States.

While our main focus is on clean up, repair and rebuilding homes, this activity becomes a means of touching lives and helping people regain faith and wholeness.


God's Hand At Work

Picher is located on the North-east corner of Oklahoma near the Kansas, Missouri border. It was formerly a center of lead and zinc mining. The population was 1,640 at the 2000 census. But recent discoveries of ground contamination and the possibility of a cave in under the town site have prompted nearly all of its population to evacuate Picher, and the nearby town of Cardin is expected to follow suit.

Picher has become notable for its location near the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Tar Creek Superfund site, which had a long history of underground lead and zinc mining until around 1970. Chat piles left behind by the mining companies contain lead dust that has blown around the town. 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.

On April 24, 2006, Reuters reported that Picher had been scheduled to be closed and all residents removed. Due in large part to the removal of large amounts of subsurface material during mining operations, many of the town's structures have been deemed in imminent danger of caving in.

Disaster

On May 10, 2008, Picher was struck by a tornado. As of May 11th there were six confirmed deaths, possibly including one child, and many other injuries. The damage in Picher was rated at EF4. At least 150 others were injured in Picher alone. The tornado continued eastward, passing just north of Quapaw and Peoria before crossing Interstate 44 into Missouri. This was the deadliest tornado in Oklahoma since the South Oklahoma City F5 tornado on May 3, 1999 which killed 36. The federal government also decided that there would be no aid given to rebuild homes, but the buyouts would continue as previously scheduled and people will be assisted in relocation.

MDS Response

MDS is working with the local long-term recovery committee, Community Disaster Recovery Coalition. Some MDS volunteers will stay at the Apostolic Assembly Church. The Oklahoma MDS Unit is coordinating all short-term volunteers. One two-bedroom home was started in January, 2009.

Project Statistics

Picher, Oklahoma - 130 A St. N.E. - Miami, OK 74354

e-mail: picher(at)mds.mennonite.net

Project Director:

Project Open Date:January 5, 2009

Volunteers to date: 180

Jobs Started: 2

Jobs Completed: 0

Project End Date: Open

Volunteer Information: MDS volunteers are known for repairing and rebuilding homes damaged by disasters. But it takes more than construction skills to serve with MDS. During the time that you serve as a volunteer, you will learn that MDS also restores lives.

Donate: Your contribution will help to connect volunteers with disaster survivors who need assistance on their path to recovery. MDS depends on the support of people who believe that disaster response is an important part of helping those who are in need.

Quilted Wall Hangings: Since November 2004, MDS house dedications include the gift of a quilted wall hanging to the new homeowners. The wall hangings are made and donated through the Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Women's group. If you are a quilter and would like more information on this program, e-mail MDS at communications@mds.mennonite.net.

Weekly Report for Picher - February 27, 2009 - Category: Picher, OK

Over the weekend, the vinyl flooring was installed by a local professional installer, and on Monday, with five volunteers, we installed the kitchen and laundry cabinets, installed part of the laminate tops in the kitchen and worked on the electrical devices and plate covers. We also primed the remainder of the woodwork, caulked in and filled nail holes in the base-casing to get ready for the final coats.

We listened to Dennis (the home owner) on what he went through with the tornado that destroyed his house. Quote from Dennis “(the tornado) took the braveness right out of me” He is no longer a brave man when it comes to tornados!

On Tuesday we had a group of eight men from the Cornerstone Mennonite congregation in Oswego, Kansas, here to help with painting the interior doors, woodwork and shelving. They also stained the kitchen cabinets and started the finish varnish on them. Two men from Fairland, OK church worked on the finish plumbing. We installed new deck material on the front porch and had the electrical service ditch closed. We had a total of twelve volunteers (all men and boys) today. Karen was busy keeping us fed.

On Wednesday a storm come through during the night and lasted till morning, no damage at the site. The owner, Dennis stayed in the house during the storm rather than the trailer.

We had two men, Sam and David from Cornerstone Mennonite, come back again to help us. They worked on finishing the electrical and varnishing the cabinets. We also did punch list items, painting, shelving and cleaning.

On Thursday volunteers Jay and son Lavon from the Fairland Mennonite congregation in OK finished the plumbing. Roy, Karen, Jerry and Steve worked on punch-list items, painting, countertops, towel bars, clean-up, etc.

It looks like we might be starting another project just up the road on this coming Monday providing some of the details to be work out.

Jerry Wyse has been busy getting the next project going and on Friday Jerry took four men from the Harbor (local homeless shelter in the same building where we rest our weary bodies) and started to clean up soaked particle and plywood sub floors, soaked drywall off of the existing walls of the new project for the H family while Roy and Karen worked on punch list items at Dennis’s house around the corner.

The H house needs a new roof put on, as the tornado took all the roof framing and the roof with it. The house needs to be stripped down to the bare studs. The H family is helping with clean-up along with some neighbors who are bringing their front-end loaders to haul off the debris.

The work continued on Saturday as Jerry went back to the H project along with Lenny and Bill from the Harbor and the extended H family was there as well to help throughout the day. Jerry spent all day at the site. Roy spent half day organizing the tool trailer and could have spent another day going over tools etc to get them ready for future projects.

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Agency Entering New Phase, Applications Pending

"Arneta Casey, a resident living in an apartment overseen by the Picher Housing Authority, is unsure of her future.
She moved to Picher following the Miami flood of 2007. Her husband then died in January. "

PICHER, Okla. — John $parkman head of the Picher Housing Authority, unfolds the letter from Kathleen Ferguson, dated February 19.

February 28, 2009

Many of the 80 or so residents of the PHA have applications for housing pending with other federally subsidized housing authorities. They will receive vouchers that are transferable to any HUD project nationwide.

The PHA had 78 units until 2006

Twenty-four of the units were closed in that year in response to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that showed large areas of Picher and Cardin are undermined and could collapse at any time.

The Report

Not the ongoing concern about heavy-metal exposure in the Tar Creek $uperfund $ite is what triggered the federal buyout of the communities. Many of the empty PHA units were destroyed by the May 10 tornado.

The remaining 54 units are being vacated.

They are not part of the buyout.

The units could be sold, but must be removed from the site.

Those that are not sold will be demolished.

Arneta Casey, 76, whose husband “Slim” died on Jan. 22, lives in the Picher Housing Authority.

She has a dog and cat to keep her company. She is not looking forward to the day when she has to move.

“When the flood hit Miami in July of 2007, we had about a foot and a half of water in our house. It destroyed everything.

After spending a night in the Miami Civic Center, the Red Cross found us a place to live here.”

With tears in her eyes, she said, “I don’t know what we would have done without this help. I don’t know where I am going to go after this.”

How Many Remain?

When the buyout and relocation of residents started in 2005, the town was home to about 700 people.

It is not clear how many people still live in Picher. The number could be fewer than 165 people. A spokeswoman for the Picher Water Department said last week there are approximately 200 active water meters in Picher.

The number includes the 54 units in the Picher Housing Authority. But some of those meters are connected to houses and units that have been vacated.

It is preparing to relocate outside of the Tar Creek $uperfund $ite, but still stay in Ottawa County, where there is a critical need for low-cost housing. All of the other housing authorities in the county, in the communities of Afton, Commerce and Miami, have tenant waiting lists.

The plan is to replace the 78 units in the Picher Housing Authority with new units that are more energy efficient and feature the latest in “green” technology. John $parkman said he met in November with representatives of the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Labs to see what type of assistance might be available from federal experts. He also has consulted with green-housing experts in Denver, Colo.

“We want to know what’s available and what can be brought to the table to see whether we can put together a demonstration project of some sort,” $parkman said. “We have a lot of good HUD (U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development) people in Oklahoma City and Fort Worth working on this.”

Bids for an architect and engineering firm to design the project are to be requested this month.

The reconstruction of the Picher Housing Authority could cost more than $8 million. The authority has more than $2.2 million available for the project after keeping capital and administrative costs to a minimum for the past three years. Administrative costs increased in 2008 in response to the tornado that struck Picher on May 10.

Finding A Site

Initially, HUD favored a site for the project south of Quapaw, but Quapaw is in the Tar Creek $uperfund $ite Preliminary talks have started with officials in Fairland where HUD will seek to purchase land.

Fairland is planning a $4 million upgrade of its waste-water treatment system. The town of 1,200 or so people also has a great school system, $parkman said, adding, “This would be at no cost to Fairland. It would be funded by HUD.”

Fairland Mayor Gerald Tipton said, “We are very hopeful — big time. The millions of dollars that will be invested and the taxes from it would help us out and help local businesses. It will affect everybody in town. I think it’s great.”

Fairland has a Family Dollar store, two convenience stores and a couple of cafes.

“We’ve got the land — about 80 acres — on our south side,” he said, noting that the planned upgrade to the city’s waste-water treatment system would be able to handle the growth.

Superintendent Mark Alexander said the enrollment in Fairland’s schools has been stable in recent years. The district could absorb an influx of new students.

“It would be a good thing for us,” he said. “We could handle an influx of students and that could help with our bottom line in terms of state funding.”

The district receives state support on a per-pupil basis.

$parkman said the new housing authority, if it is constructed in Fairland, would be open to anyone. It is not being constructed with the specific intent of housing displaced people from the Picher Housing Authority (PHA).

Applications Pending

Many of the 80 or so residents of the PHA have applications for housing pending with other federally subsidized housing authorities. They will receive vouchers that are transferable to any HUD project nationwide.

The PHA had 78 units until 2006. Twenty-four of the units were closed in that year in response to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that showed large areas of Picher and Cardin are undermined and could collapse at any time. The report — not the ongoing concern about heavy-metal exposure in the Tar Creek $uperfund $ite is what triggered the federal buyout of the communities. Many of the empty PHA units were destroyed by the May 10 tornado.

The remaining 54 units are being vacated. They are not part of the buyout. The units could be sold, but must be removed from the site. Those that are not sold will be demolished.

Arneta Casey, 76, whose husband “Slim” died on Jan. 22, lives in the Picher Housing Authority. She has a dog and cat to keep her company. She is not looking forward to the day when she has to move.

“When the flood hit Miami in July of 2007, we had about a foot and a half of water in our house. It destroyed everything. After spending a night in the Miami Civic Center, the Red Cross found us a place to live here.”

With tears in her eyes, she said, “I don’t know what we would have done without this help. I don’t know where I am going to go after this.”

How many remain?

When the buyout and relocation of residents started in 2005, the town was home to about 700 people. It is not clear how many people still live in Picher. The number could be fewer than 165 people. A spokeswoman for the Picher Water Department said last week there are approximately 200 active water meters in Picher. The number includes the 54 units in the Picher Housing Authority. But some of those meters are connected to houses and units that have been vacated.

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Agency Entering New Phase

The reconstruction of the Picher Housing Authority could cost more than $8 million

PICHER, Okla.— John Sparkman, head of the Picher Housing Authority, unfolds the letter from Kathleen Ferguson, dated Feb. 19.

She writes: “After the Miami flood in July 2007, I had nowhere to live as all of the senior housing was full and I could not afford a regular apartment at it was too expensive.

“I don’t know what I would have done if you had not let me move into Apt. 126. It gave me a roof over my head that I could afford.”

Until recently, the Picher Housing Authority was providing low-cost housing to families with small children and seniors in need of temporary housing in the way that Ferguson needed it.

Sparkman brushes off recent criticism that was heaped on him by the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, and state and federal authorities for giving people a place to live temporarily while $60 million is being spent to permanently relocate the residents of Picher and Cardin.

Gov. Brad Henry, in a previous statement, expressed “outrage” that families were being assisted by the Picher Housing Authority.

Paul Sund, press spokesman for Henry, previously told the Globe the governor’s comments were not directly aimed at Sparkman, but at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program he manages, and the lack of communication between HUD and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sund has said that the goal is to find housing for individuals in an area that is not in the Superfund site and that is in a safe area.

“We’re not putting anybody out on the street,” Sparkman said. “These people need our help or they would not be here.

“We are no longer taking applications and we are gradually reducing the population of the housing authority, which we have been doing all along to dissolve by the end of ’09. That has been our plan since last year,” he said.

“But we will make an adjustment if there is an emergency condition. If a family’s home is burned out and they can’t find a place to live, we will still try to help them.”

New Phase

The Picher Housing Authority, the first to be constructed in the state of Oklahoma in 1967, is about to enter a new phase in its history.

It is preparing to relocate outside of the Tar Creek Superfund site, but still stay in Ottawa County, where there is a critical need for low-cost housing. All of the other housing authorities in the county, in the communities of Afton, Commerce and Miami, have tenant waiting lists.

The plan is to replace the 78 units in the Picher Housing Authority with new units that are more energy efficient and feature the latest in “green” technology. Sparkman said he met in November with representatives of the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Labs to see what type of assistance might be available from federal experts. He also has consulted with green-housing experts in Denver, Colo.

“We want to know what’s available and what can be brought to the table to see whether we can put together a demonstration project of some sort,” Sparkman said. “We have a lot of good HUD (U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development) people in Oklahoma City and Fort Worth working on this.”

Bids for an architect and engineering firm to design the project are to be requested this month.

The reconstruction of the Picher Housing Authority could cost more than $8 million. The authority has more than $2.2 million available for the project after keeping capital and administrative costs to a minimum for the past three years. Administrative costs increased in 2008 in response to the tornado that struck Picher on May 10.

Finding A Site

Initially, HUD favored a site for the project south of Quapaw, but Quapaw is in the Tar Creek Superfund site. Preliminary talks have started with officials in Fairland where HUD will seek to purchase land.

Fairland is planning a $4 million upgrade of its waste-water treatment system. The town of 1,200 or so people also has a great school system, Sparkman said, adding, “This would be at no cost to Fairland. It would be funded by HUD.”

Fairland Mayor Gerald Tipton said, “We are very hopeful — big time. The millions of dollars that will be invested and the taxes from it would help us out and help local businesses. It will affect everybody in town. I think it’s great.”

Fairland has a Family Dollar store, two convenience stores and a couple of cafes.

“We’ve got the land — about 80 acres — on our south side,” he said, noting that the planned upgrade to the city’s waste-water treatment system would be able to handle the growth.

Superintendent Mark Alexander said the enrollment in Fairland’s schools has been stable in recent years. The district could absorb an influx of new students.

“It would be a good thing for us,” he said. “We could handle an influx of students and that could help with our bottom line in terms of state funding.”

The district receives state support on a per-pupil basis.

Sparkman said the new housing authority, if it is constructed in Fairland, would be open to anyone. It is not being constructed with the specific intent of housing displaced people from the Picher Housing Authority (PHA). Applications Pending

Many of the 80 or so residents of the PHA have applications for housing pending with other federally subsidized housing authorities. They will receive vouchers that are transferable to any HUD project nationwide.

The PHA had 78 units until 2006. Twenty-four of the units were closed in that year in response to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that showed large areas of Picher and Cardin are undermined and could collapse at any time. The report — not the ongoing concern about heavy-metal exposure in the Superfund site — is what triggered the federal buyout of the communities. Many of the empty PHA units were destroyed by the May 10 tornado.

The remaining 54 units are being vacated. They are not part of the buyout. The units could be sold, but must be removed from the site. Those that are not sold will be demolished.

Arneta Casey, 76, whose husband “Slim” died on Jan. 22, lives in the Picher Housing Authority. She has a dog and cat to keep her company. She is not looking forward to the day when she has to move.

“When the flood hit Miami in July of 2007, we had about a foot and a half of water in our house. It destroyed everything. After spending a night in the Miami Civic Center, the Red Cross found us a place to live here.”

With tears in her eyes, she said, “I don’t know what we would have done without this help. I don’t know where I am going to go after this.”

How Many Remain?

When the buyout and relocation of residents started in 2005, the town was home to about 700 people. It is not clear how many people still live in Picher. The number could be fewer than 165 people. A spokeswoman for the Picher Water Department said last week there are approximately 200 active water meters in Picher. The number includes the 54 units in the Picher Housing Authority. But some of those meters are connected to houses and units that have been vacated.

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Tornado Week on The Weather Channel Live From Picher

Tornado victim recalls events for Weather Channel broadcast w/ Weather Channel video

February 27, 2009

Jim Cantore with The Weather Channel hugs tornado survivor Kenna Garrison after interviewing her Thursday.\

Kenna Garrison on Thursday recounts for broadcast on The Weather Channel how she survived the May 10 tornado that devastated a portion of her hometown of Picher.

PICHER, Okla. — Kenna Garrison didn’t get the chance to tell her story when it happened. She got that chance Thursday with Jim Cantore, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel.

Tammy Patterson, Garrison’s mother, saw that Cantore was doing a live national broadcast from Picher on Thursday in connection with “Tornado Week.”

The southern half of Picher was leveled by an EF4 tornado at about 5:35 p.m. on May 10, 2008. It killed six people in Picher. The death toll might have been much higher had firefighters in the town of Welch not notified Picher that a tornado was on the ground.

The early warning gave hundreds of Picher residents time to get in their vehicles and flee. But some got the word too late.

Patterson, whose house was destroyed by the tornado and who now lives in Quapaw, took her 18-year-old daughter to where Cantore was staging his broadcast to see if he might be interested in interviewing her. Cantore has been visiting towns and interviewing survivors of devastating tornadoes in connection with “Tornado Week.”

Garrison said she was at her sister’s apartment in Picher with her brother-in-law and uncle. When they heard that a tornado was approaching, they ran out of the house.

“People were running everywhere,” she said. “They were getting in their cars and leaving as fast as they could. We got into a car and headed for Mineral Heights.”

Instead of going north or south at a right angle to the tornado, they drove east and into the tornado’s path. Mineral Heights, a subdivision in the southeast part of Picher, was the site of some of the worst destruction.

“I remember seeing a dually truck fall out of the sky in front of us and then a tree fall next to it,” Garrison said. “We were right in the middle of it. I tried to get to the floorboard.”

After the tornado passed, she was taken to a hospital with a fractured hand, a fractured neck and a broken tooth. She has scars where flying debris penetrated her skin.

“This scar is where they pulled a piece of wood out,” her mother said. “Her hair was like dry mud. We pulled chat out of her scalp for days.”

The other people in the vehicle — Garrison’s sister, Tracie Dawn Berry, 19; her sister’s husband, Samuel Don Berry, 20; and her uncle, Darrell Patterson Jr., 28, of Wagoner — were killed.

Garrison could not tell her story at the time because she was in the hospital.

After talking with her, Cantore said: “Thanks for sharing your story. I hope it helps to talk about it.”

Turning to some people who were standing nearby, he said, “It breaks my heart.”

The brisk winds that blew on Thursday reminded Garrison of that fateful day.

“It was dry like this, and it was windy all day before the tornado hit,” she said. “It’s scary being here. There’s nothing left now.”

Picher Damage

The tornado that hit Picher last May 10 was categorized as an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The wind speed was estimated at 175 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The tornado damaged or destroyed about 160 houses in Picher.

Three people died in structures.

Three people died in a vehicle.

Tornado Week On The Weather Channel Videos

Tornado Week Videos - Storm Stories - Chaser Moments - HD - Cantore Stories - Full Episodes

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Cardin Post Office To Close

Residents can pick up their mail in Picher beginning next week, but that post office will close in a few months

February 27, 2009

CARDIN, Okla. (AP) — Saturday will be the last day residents in this Ottawa County town can go to the Cardin Post Office.

Mail will still be delivered to homes in Cardin, but the U.S. Postal Service will close the post office because the lease is expiring and there are environmental issues, said David Lewin, Postal Service regional spokesman.

“The post office will be open from 9 until 10:30 (a.m.), and then it will close for good,” Lewin said Thursday.

Residents can pick up their mail in Picher beginning next week, but that post office will close in a few months, he said.

Lewin said the Picher lease expires in June, and the owner isn’t interested in renewing it because of a federal buyout of homeowners and businesses.

Picher and Cardin are located within the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tar Creek Superfund site.

The 40 square-mile area in Oklahoma’s northeastern tip was left contaminated by years of lead and zinc mining. The region is dotted with mountains of lead waste, called chat; the land is prone to cave-ins and tests have shown area children to have high levels of lead in their blood.

The Cardin post office opened Dec. 1, 1951.

Of the 58 post office boxes at the facility, 31 are being used, Lewin said.

Cardin post office box holders will not have to change their addresses.


2nd Report... Cardin Post Office Closes

February 27, 2009

Kathy Herd, officer in charge, attends to the counter early this week at the Cardin post office.

The office will close for good after its business hours today.

The action is related to the government buyout of homes and businesses in the former mining field.

CARDIN, Okla. — Cardin, a small town located in the Tar Creek Superfund Site, will lose its post office when the doors close today.

Kerry Rennells, a customer affairs manager for the U.S. Postal Service, said the lease on the downtown building that houses the post office will expire today.

Cardin post office set to close doors

CARDIN, Okla. — Cardin, a small town located in the Tar Creek Superfund Site, will lose its post office when the doors close today.

Kerry Rennells, a customer affairs manager for the U.S. Postal Service, said the lease on the downtown building that houses the post office will expire today.

“That will be the last day of service there,” she said. “They can get their mail March 2 at Picher.”

The closing is related to the government buyout in the former lead-and-zinc-mining field. The action is listed as an emergency suspension because of environmental issues, and Occupational, Safety and Health Administration regulations.

The impetus for the voluntary buyout initially was the lead contamination left especially by the rock waste, or chat, left by the mining industry. The impetus changed in the wake of a study that suggested an unsafe cave-in risk in the heavily undermined Picher-Cardin area.

“I’m not sure they (Environmental Protection Agency) would let us renew the lease,” Rennells said.

Rennells and other postal service representatives met with a group of Cardin and Picher residents early this week at Picher City Hall.

“The community was receptive,” she said. “They have been through so much.”

Residents will keep their addresses and ZIP codes, she said, but mail will be routed to Picher where it will be placed in a cluster box of individual mail boxes. Each resident will be given a key to a box.

“They hated to see another business go out, but we don’t know if we could even renew the lease.”

“One man at the meeting said he had had the same mailbox for 65 years,” she said.

There are about 30 residences remaining in Cardin, she said.

Rennells said the lease on the post office in Picher expires July 21.

Although plans have not been completed as to operations once both post offices close, the Quapaw Post Office would be an option with a rural mail carrier delivering mail to the cluster box in Picher, she said.

Quapaw has a part-time rural mail carrier, Rennells said.

“We are required to deliver mail for every person,” she said.

Cardin resident Edward Dollison said he moved to Cardin about 10 years ago.

“I came here to stay,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave.”

For the residents who remain in Cardin, Dollison said he didn’t think the change to the Picher post office would be a hardship.

Residents, he said, were told that the next round of appraisals of homes for the voluntary buyout is expected to begin next month. He said the remaining residents of Cardin probably will be relocated in the next few months.

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Attorney Planning Lawsuits For Picher Residents

“I am offended by what has been offered,” Marr said. “The offers were not reasonable and I question the motivation behind them.”

February 25, 2009

PICHER — An Oklahoma City attorney who specializes in insurance class-action lawsuits was in attendance Tuesday night at a Tar Creek buyout meeting.

Jeff Marr did not address the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust. Earlier this month he met with residents at a Picher town hall meeting to discuss a potential class-action lawsuit.

“I’m just here to assess the situation,” Marr said.

Marr represented victims in an insurance class-action lawsuit after a tornado hit Moore in May 1999. One plaintiff was awarded $13 million, Marr said.

There may be two groups that are part of a class-action suit, he said. The first group is those individuals who have issues concerning their buyout offers from the trust.

“I am offended by what has been offered,” Marr said. “The offers were not reasonable and I question the motivation behind them.”

Trust officials previously said the current buyout offers are higher than those in the first buyout.

The second group is for individuals whose homes were destroyed in the May 2008 tornado and had insurance. Homeowners were required to sign over their insurance check or the resident could refuse the buyout offer and keep the insurance money.

Federal and state damage assessment teams said the tornado destroyed 114 homes and heavily damaged 30 more.

Marr said he plans to file a lawsuit soon, but declined to say when because he is still researching potential defendants and other issues.

During the meeting the board approved renewal of a contract with real estate appraisers Van Tuyl & Associates of Tulsa.

The trust also pulled eight properties to recheck the facts before making offers to the homeowners, said Dr. Mark Osborn, trust chairman.

The state is overseeing the trust, which is funded with federal money after a 2006 report showed hundreds of homes, businesses and churches in the Picher, Cardin and Hockerville areas could potentially cave in.

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Annual "Storm Fury On The Plains" Severe Weather Spotting Seminar

The Show Opened With Video Of The Tornado That Struck Picher Last Year


February 25, 2009

Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Wichita, explains the weather phenomenon known as a bow echo to a standing-room-only crowd at the Cowley Cinema 8 movie theater Tuesday evening.

Organizers estimated about 230 people attended, a large improvement over last year’s crowd of 45 to 55 people. (Tyler Gaskill/Courier)

Weather enthusiasts storm to theater

Suffice to say, Cowley County has a lot of weather enthusiasts.

Nearly 230 people converged on B & B Cowley Cinema 8 Theater on Tuesday night for the annual "Storm Fury on the Plains" severe weather spotting seminar.

The event was conducted by Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist for the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service.

"We didn't anticipate this big of a crowd," Hayes gushed as he looked around the standing-room-only theater. "I love giving these presentations."

Hayes, a 13-year veteran of annual storm spotter seminars, spent two hours showing video and slides of supercell thunderstorms in an effort to educate the audience about the difference between possible tornadic, rotating supercells and "SLCs" - scary-looking clouds.

The crowd ranged from grizzled veteran storm chasers to children of all ages - all with one thing in common: an interest in severe weather.

During the presentation, two weather radios and a rain gauge were given away as door prizes.

Hayes opened the show with video of the tornado that struck Picher, Okla., last year.

The small, northeast Oklahoma town was decimated May 11 by an EF4 twister that killed six people.

He explained the enhanced Fujita scale, updated by the National Weather Service to more accurately describe wind speeds of tornadoes based on structural damage.

Of key interest to Hayes was that while Picher had about 12 minutes' lead time before the tornado struck, no personnel from the area made contact with the local National Weather Service affiliates.

"That's a big reason we're here - communication," Hayes said.

"I do realize most people get their information from radio or television, but you do need to know what to do at home to stay safe."

Kansas was hit by a record 187 tornadoes in 2008, a record that has been broken four of the past five years.

Four people were killed and nine others suffered tornado-related injuries.

The longest tornado tracked was on the ground for 55.2 miles, and the strongest was an EF4 - the enhanced Fujita scale ranges twisters from brief EF0 to devastating EF5, such as the one that struck Greensburg in 2007.

Gove, Sheridan and Trego counties - all in the northwest part of the state - were hit by the most tornadoes, 12. May 23 ranked as the busiest day for activity with 70 twisters - 127 in the month of May tops on the list.

There were just eight days in the calendar year that saw tornadoes in the state and just 50 days of hail reports.

"We get a lot more wind, hail and flooding than we get tornadoes," Hayes said.

"Your threat is mainly hail, high winds and flooding rather than tornadoes."

Hayes talked about the National Weather Service's Wichita office Web site: weather.gov/wichita, pointing out the specifics one can look for in determining whether severe weather is in the forecast.

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Where Does Common Sense Enter Here?

You have got to be kidding, $parkman is renting to not only the Head Start Program but also To New Families With Children?

The Picher Head Start program has been in existence since 1971, Spillman said.

In 2005 the state spent $3 million moving out families with young children

Picher Head Start leases its building from the Picher Housing Authority, which has faced pressure by Henry and Inhofe to stop renting housing units to families with young children.

The authority’s executive director, John $parkman, has faced questions for allowing families with young children to move to public housing in Tar Creek.

“When Gov. Henry came out with legislation to move kids out of Tar Creek we recommended to shut it down then but our office said to stay open until we receive further information or you cannot maintain enrollment,” Spillman said.

Head Start officials in Washington said that Tar Creek families wanted to keep the program going in 2005 so the closing was delayed.

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Weather Channel To Broadcast From Picher, Oklahoma

Live reports from Picher during The Weather Channel’s Tornado Week

February 22, 2009

Storm tracker Jim Cantore was once told that people feel safer when The Weather Channel is in town.

So the folks in Picher can take comfort in knowing that Cantore and a crew from The Weather Channel (66 on Cox Cable, 214 on Dish Network, 362 on DirecTV) will be in town Thursday and Friday.

They will be doing live reports from Picher during The Weather Channel’s Tornado Week programming event.

Cantore’s "Storm Stories” series will also kick off its fourth season with a week’s worth of new episodes airing at 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. He hosts the show that uses first-person accounts and archived footage to present the tales of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

"I was in Picher last year, and everybody we ran into lost everything,” said Cantore, who is also an on-camera meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

"Here we are with these people, everything is in total disarray, and they want to talk to The Weather Channel. They go, ‘this is the channel that tried to save me and help me, and now I want to tell them my story.’

"That’s a great feeling and, in a way, I think it helps them heal.”

In addition to seeing how Picher is doing a year after the tornado devastation, Cantore would like to visit Mickey Mantle’s childhood home in nearby Commerce. The Connecticut native is a huge Yankees fan.

And there is one more stop he would like to make — that being the site of the Feb. 10 tornado.

"For the folks in Lone Grove, tell them my hearts are with them,” he said. "I am shocked that this year we’re getting April and May-type tornados in the middle of winter.

"I just hope we get a chance to go down there just to shake a few hands and hear their stories.”

Everyone is invited to share their "storm stories” online at www.weather.com/tv. Cantore said he may even incorporate some of the tales into "Storm Stories” this season.

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Southeast Kansas Towns, Scarred By Mining, Still Show Pain As They Deal With Environmental Problems

Picher, and other former mining towns of Treece, Cardin still hurting from disasters

February 22, 2009

GALENA — Robert Edge thinks there is an abandoned mine tunnel underneath his downtown Galena knife and antique store.

“I’ve heard sounds. I’ve felt movements,” he said. “If you’ve ever felt that before, you don’t forget it.”

It’s been more than two years since the ground moved and parted across the street from Edge. A sinkhole developed over an old lead and zinc mine, partially collapsing a brick apartment building and damaging the Green Parrot bar. The bar owners barely escaped safely from their apartments before the collapse.

Sinkholes from abandoned mines have plagued Galena for years. Three small, but deep, ones developed earlier this month near city hall, at a mobile home court and on a street. They were blocked off then filled and covered a few days later.

But city officials are still trying to address the overall problem of how to locate and fill in the numerous underground mine voids before the ground above them collapses.

Two years ago the Journal-World examined the environmental problems decades of mining for lead, zinc and coal left on southeastern Kansas, mainly in Galena and Treece. Treece also is undermined and has pollution problems, despite millions of dollars in cleanup projects overseen by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

People in Treece, population 140, are seeking a federal buyout their properties so they can move to safer ground. But a bill in Congress that would pay for that was never passed.

Meanwhile, in Picher, Okla., another former mining town, the population continues to dwindle as residents take advantage of a federal buyout that was approved for them a few years ago. There are blocks of mostly abandoned houses and former businesses. The buyout also includes the adjoining Oklahoma burgs of Cardin and Hockerville.

Only 150 people remain in Picher, city clerk Carolyn Elmore said. In 2000 the town’s population was 1,640, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the last year the town’s schools will be open. In May 2008, a tornado hit the southern edge of Picher, wiping out blocks of houses and killing a reported six people.

Galena Seeks Solutions

Galena city leaders two years ago thought they had found a solution to the sinkhole problems. It was awarded a $250,000 federal grant to help pay for mapping its abandoned mines. But once the city read the grant’s fine print, it was rejected. The city planned to drill small holes in the ground at locations downtown, near schools and elsewhere to see if underground voids could be found and how far below the surface they were.

The federal government wanted a certified drill operator to do the drilling, something the state of Kansas doesn’t require, Mayor Dale Oglesby said. A full-time, on-site engineering firm had to be involved. There was just too much “red tape” for the city to deal with, Oglesby said.

“By the time they loaded up all the things they wanted, the city didn’t have that kind of money,” he said.

But Galena thinks it has found another, lower-cost way of attacking the sinkhole problem. The city plans to work with a local utility company to find the underground voids, concentrating their efforts downtown and near schools.

City work crews watch for signs of developing sinkholes such as ground depressions. When those areas are located the plan is to grout the site by pumping a fly ash and cement mixture into the void.

Sinkholes usually develop after long dry periods followed by heavy rain. Large sinkholes that open up and collapse buildings are not common, but smaller holes are, Oglesby said.

The remains of the bar and apartment building were cleared last year. Oglesby hopes the block will be redeveloped.

“But you can’t do that with the ground moving,” he said. “First you have to stabilize it.”

Galena residents, such as store owner Edge, are used to sinkholes and say they are not afraid of them.

“You’ll have small warning signs. I have a good eye for them,” Edge, who is blind in one eye, said with a chuckle.

Treece Buyout Still Sought

Last week in Treece, EPA contractors were back at work clearing out the remains of massive piles of mine tailings. The tailings are waste matter removed from mines and piled high like small mountains during the decades of lead and zinc mining. The cleanup has been ongoing for several years.

Most mining ended some 30 years ago. There also are deep open mine shafts and ground collapses. Some of those collapses cover areas as large as a football field.

Treece residents say no matter how much the EPA spends on cleanup the pollution problem will remain. Water flows through the underground mines, picks up pollutants and carries them to the surface. Residents have been upset that they weren’t included in the federal buyout of Picher, which is just on the other side of the state line.

More than two years ago state Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, urged then U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., to introduce a bill that would create a buyout for Treece. A $6 million buyout bill was introduced but it died at the end of the last congressional session.

When Picher is gone, Treece residents worry what will happen to phone service and electricity, some of which passes through their neighbor to the south.

“It’s just very frustrating,” Treece city clerk Pam Pruit said.

Treece resident Gayla Woodcock said she has health problems and physicians are trying to determine if they are a result of lead poisoning.

Residents also worry that the economic recession could cause further delays in getting money from Washington, D.C.

“It’s a vicious circle and we are right in the middle of it,” Woodcock said. “It’s a mess and we can’t really push anybody’s hands because we aren’t big enough.”

Boyda was defeated last year in her bid for re-election in the 2nd District by Republican Lynn Jenkins. Representatives in Jenkins and Roberts’ offices said the two are studying options for Treece. A buyout bill might be reintroduced. They also will see if there are funds in President Obama’s federal stimulus package that could be used.

The state had allocated $680,000 as matching funds for the federal buyout. That allocation is no more but Gatewood said he’s confident it can be obtained again.

“We will come up with it if federal money is there,” he said.

Picher Being Abandoned

On a cold afternoon last week Ron Thompson, of Joplin, Mo., and his daughter, Paige, watched as two people Thompson hired worked to remove an old pickup truck from the tornado ravaged neighborhood in Picher. Thompson’s grandmother once lived in a house there but had been dead for a couple of years by the time the tornado destroyed the home and dropped part of a tree onto the truck. She would never have taken a buyout and left Picher, Thompson said.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “She was pretty strong-minded. It’s really sad what’s happened here.”

Elmore, the city clerk, also feels that sadness. She has lived in Picher all of her life and she wasn’t sure when she would be moving out. City hall might be closed at the end of the year.

“It’s been real heart-wrenching,” she said. “The tornado added insult and injury to this little town and its people.”

As many as 10 to 15 people have indicated that they would remain in Picher after everybody else has left, Elmore said.

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Head Start To Move Program Out Of Picher

Picher Was Notified By The Head Start Region 6 Director In Dallas To Relocate

February 21, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Students at Picher Head Start will be transferred to the Quapaw Head Start next month after calls from Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to close the center in the Tar Creek Superfund site.

Doug Spillman, director of the preschool program in Picher, said he was notified by the Head Start Region 6 director in Dallas to relocate the 17 children, ages 3 through 5, to the Quapaw school.

Plans had been for the school to relocate after completion of this school year, he said, but Henry and Inhofe last week issued a statement urging the federal agency to speed up the plan to transfer the children.

The Picher-Cardin School District will close its doors at the end of the school year, sending students next year to either Quapaw or Commerce school districts.

The demise of the school district is a consequence of the federal buyout under way in the former lead and zinc mining field.

Spillman oversees eight centers and 397 children in Northeast Oklahoma from his office in Jay.

All of the children were tested for lead contamination prior to the start of the school year, and the results were negative, Spillman said.

Children under the age of 6 are at the greatest risk of health effects associated with exposure to lead, according to the National Safety Council.

The NSC says even low levels of exposure can lead to IQ deficits, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, stunted or slowed growth, and impaired hearing.

The center, located in downtown Picher adjacent to the Picher Housing Authority, sits on land that has been cleared of mine waste and is not undermined, he said.

But, Spillman said, he and his staff will comply with the directive to relocate the students.

“We just mutually agreed,” he said.

Henry’s office issued a short statement Friday supporting the federal agency’s decision to relocate the school.

“It’s a step in the right direction and certainly in the best interest of the children involved,” the statement read.

Parents will be responsible for transporting the children, none of whom live in Picher, Spillman said.

The Head Start program in Picher has not provided transportation for the children, he said.

A staff of four also will relocate during spring break the week of March 16-20, with classes to resume March 23.

“Our main concern is not to disrupt services,” Spillman said.

The federal Head Start program had been leasing the center at Picher from the Picher Housing Authority, but owns the building in Quapaw, Spillman said.

The Picher Head Start program was founded in 1971.

The Quapaw School District had been using the vacant building for a music room, Spillman said.

Buyout Background

The state of Oklahoma has been overseeing a $60 million buyout of about 700 properties in the Picher-Cardin area because of public-safety risks.

The voluntary federal buyout was announced in May 2006. An earlier state buyout targeted families with young children.

The Tar Creek Superfund site includes 40 square miles of former lead and zinc mining land in Ottawa County.

While lead contamination from mining waste was a factor in the initial state buyout, the impetus for the federal buyout was the risk of cave-ins associated with extensive undermining of the area.

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Picher Head Start Program To Move Next Month

Proposed moving the program to Quapaw beginning the next school year

February 20, 2009

PICHER, Okla. (AP) - Under pressure from state and federal lawmakers, officials with a preschool program in Picher say they plan to have it moved to nearby Quapaw next month.

Head Start Director Doug Spillman, whose office is in Miami, Okla., says the Picher Head Start program will be relocated to Quapaw during spring break and reopen on March 23.

The move comes after Gov. Brad Henry and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe issued a joint statement last week, asking Head Start officials to speed the pace of the program's relocation.

Plans had called for the program to be moved at the end of the school year, to allow for minimal interruption of services to families, Spillman said.

"We hope this to be as smooth a transition as we can do under the circumstances," Spillman said.

Picher sits on the Tar Creek Superfund site, which is beset with mine collapses, open shafts, acid mine water that stains Tar Creek orange and mountains of lead-contaminated mine waste known as chat.

Local children have tested high for dangerous levels of lead in their blood.

Henry and Inhofe cited health and safety concerns for children in their joint statement.

Spillman said of the 17 children in the preschool program, only one lives in Picher because of an ongoing buyout process.

In 2005, the state spent $3 million to move families with young children away from the area.

That and a subsequent federal buyout have reduced the number of preschoolers and first graders in Picher.

"The danger and health issues I must leave up to others," Spillman said. "All I know is that the blood tests of the children were fine.

There was none with high blood-lead levels. We test the children at the beginning of each school year.

Hopefully Inhofe, the governor and families will understand that we are doing the best we can."

Inhofe's spokesman, Danny Finnerty, said the senator believes the quickened pace of the program's relocation "is certainly in the best interest of the children." Paul Sund, a spokesman for Henry, echoed that sentiment.

Spillman said the Picher Head Start program has existed since 1971.

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MAKES YOU WANT TO SAY... HHMMMM....
"Dis is what us-ens used ta call woking boat sides of da fence"

Investigation Into The Picher Housing Authority

HOUSING EXECUTIVE UNDER SCRUTINY

February 15, 2009

John $parkman: The executive director of the Picher Housing Authority has faced scrutiny for advertising vacant units and allowing families with young children to move into the Superfund site after the state spent $3 million in 2005 to move children out to protect them from lead poisoning.

Published: 2/15/2009 2:52 AM - Last Modified: 2/15/2009 3:15 AM

PICHER — The Picher Housing Authority's administrative costs have climbed nearly 30 percentdespite a decrease in public housing rentals in the past two years within the Tar Creek $uperfund site, a Tulsa World investigation shows.

The authority offers public housing for low-income families and individuals in Picher, a town polluted by lead and zinc mining, both of which have ceased.

The federal government is spending $60 million to voluntarily relocate families and businesses from Tar Creek, which is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's $uperfund list.

The authority's office expenses and administrative costs have increased by $27,869 since fiscal year 2007, which ended June 30, 2007. However, since 2006, housing officials have closed 24 of its 78 rental units because of dangerous undermining caused by lead and zinc mining.

Seven units are now vacant. Counting vacant and condemned units, Picher Housing Authority rentals have declined 40 percent in two years.

The authority, however, appears to be spending more money to do a job that appears to be requiring less work because of decreased occupancy, the World's investigation shows.

The authority's executive director, John $parkman, could not be reached for comment.

An attorney for the authority said $parkman had done nothing wrong.

$parkman has faced public scrutiny for advertising vacant housing units and allowing families with young children to move into the $uperfund site after the state spent $3 million in 2005 to move children out to protect them from lead poisoning.

$parkman receives $34,153 a year and now oversees 54 housing units.

In 2008, he hired two assistants who are paid $15 an hour working 10 to 25 hours a week, according to information released by $parkman at the World's request.

$parkman did not fully comply with the World's request.

The World requested records involving the names of the two aides, who are listed as Housing Program Assistants.

The World also requested two annual audit reports but received only one.

At present, 85 residents live in the 54 units, records show.

' Eleven units were vacant in August 2008, when $parkman advertised for renters although his renters were being bought out.

$parkman has said he is developing a plan to close the housing units because most of its residents have applied for the federal buyout.

The World's investigation shows that the Picher Housing Authority, under $parkman, was sued in 2007.

The suit claimed that $parkman withheld records that detailed his work as a consultant for two law firms representing families who are suing various mining companies, records obtained by the World show.

Delaware County Associate District Judge Barry Denney ruled in July 2007 that $parkman and the authority violated the Open Records Act in that case.

As a consultant, $parkman received about $30,000 between 2004 and 2006, the World has learned.

He was paid quarterly to escort officials around the Tar Creek area, have documents signed and to pass information to the law firms, according to court records and documents obtained by the World.

Records obtained by the World show that $parkman apparently did much of the consulting work while he was also on the clock as the housing director.

$parkman said in a court deposition in 2006 that the information he gathered was not exclusive to the law firms and that he shared information with numerous parties to help the families and groups.

$parkman, a longtime resident of the Picher area, has been a leading advocate for removing children from the Tar Creek $uperfund site.

$parkman also said that he could not separate the time he spent working for the law firms and the time he spent working as the director of the Picher Housing Authority, records show.

In that deposition, $parkman attempted to explain his consultant work and its scope:

"You need to understand what it is like up there.

This is almost a 24/7 thing with people up there.

And you know, I just get the feeling you guys are trying to make it look like I'm being bought off.

I haven't tried to hide anything."

An attorney for the authority, Tony Laizure, said:

"I want to dispel any notion that $parkman is acting inappropriately in regards to the Housing Authority.

His duties as director to my understanding is that John was not doing anything that conflicted with his job for the Housing Authority.

He was merely a facilitator for the law firms.''

Records show that $parkman was hired by Speer Law Firm of Kansas City, Mo., and Seeger Weiss of New York.

The law firms were representing families with children who allegedly were suffering from the effects of lead contamination, records show.

The lawsuits were filed in federal court in Tulsa.

$parkman said he approached Speer in 2004 to offer his services as a guide for anyone coming to Tar Creek, court records state.

$parkman was paid $3,750 per quarter for his work for the law firms, records show.

$parkman said his referrals were not exclusive to Speer or Seeger, records show.

$parkman said he occasionally recommended other law firms to residents who asked about legal advice.

Picher Housing Authority Administrative Costs

Fiscal year 2007: $95,531

Current costs: $123,400

Number of housing units: 54

Number of office workers: three

Executive director’s salary: $34,153

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MAKES YOU WANT TO SAY... HHMMMM....
Rentals Down But Costs Up For Housing Authority

Investigation shows that administrative costs for the Picher Housing Authority

February 15, 2009

PICHER, Okla. (AP) - A newspaper investigation shows that administrative costs for the Picher Housing Authority have risen almost 30% even as rentals in the town that sits on a federal Superfund site have decreased.

The Tulsa World obtained documents through a public records request and reports that the authority's executive director, John $parkman, didn't fully comply with that request.

The Picher Housing Authority offers public housing for low-income families in Picher, a fading lead and zinc mining town in far northeastern Oklahoma.

The federal government is in the midst of a $60 million buyout of homes in an effort to relocate residents outside the $uperfund area.

Records show that the office expenses and administrative costs for the authority have risen by $27,869 since the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007.

Since 2006, 24 of the authority's 78 rental units have been closed and the authority's rentals have only dropped 40% in two yearsIn Picher, more spent to oversee less housing

An attorney for the authority, Tony Laizure, says $parkman has not done anything wrong.

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Buses Stolen From Picher School, Damaged

Authorities are investigating it as an arson case

February 15, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Police in two states are looking for information about damage caused by stolen school buses.

Quapaw police Chief Gary Graham said officers are investigating the theft of school vehicles overnight Friday from the Picher-Cardin School District’s bus barn. The Quapaw police provide law enforcement for nearby Picher.

At least two people broke into the building and stole a full-sized school bus, a minibus and a pickup truck owned by the district, Graham said. He said the vehicles were found in three places:

The bus was backed into an abandoned house about a mile west of Picher on the Oklahoma side of State Line Road. The house was severely damaged by the impact.

The pickup truck was found about a half-mile away, in a field on the east side of Southwest 20th Street in Cherokee County, Kan. The truck was found burned. Graham said authorities are investigating it as an arson case.

The minibus was found severely damaged at Grove Road and U.S. Highway 69, near Treece, Kan.

Graham said the department had no suspects as of Sunday night.

“There had to be at least two or three people,” he said. “From where the buses were located, it’s obvious that two vehicles were at the locations.”

Don Barr, superintendent of the Picher-Cardin School District, said bus routes will run normally this morning. The rest of the buses in the fleet and the barn appeared to be undamaged, he said.

“I have no idea how they got in,” Barr said. “When I arrived Saturday morning, I found two bus doors sliding open.”

Barr said the three vehicles were valued at about $80,000.

Police are asking that anyone with knowledge of the thefts and property destruction contact the Quapaw Police Department at (918) 674-2516, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department at (620) 429-3992 or the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department at (918) 542-2806

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Henry, Inhofe Request Head Start To Be Moved

Proposed moving the program to Quapaw beginning the next school year

February 13, 2009

PICHER, Okla. (AP) - Gov. Brad Henry and Sen. Jim Inhofe want a Head Start program in the Tar Creek $uperfund site in northeastern Oklahoma to be moved immediately.

In statement released yesterday the two ask Head Start Director Doug Spillman to transfer several young children in the Picher Head Start program to a facility outside the contaminated area.

The program is housed in Ottawa County where a 40 square-mile area is contaminated after decades of lead and zinc mining.

Previous studies have shown elevated levels of lead in children living in the area.

Henry's office says Spillman has proposed moving the program to Quapaw beginning the next school year.

But the governor and Inhofe say the health and safety of the students is more important that the inconvenience of finding a new location immediately.

Associated Press

Tar Creek Program Urged To Relocate

Gov. Brad Henry and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe have asked a Head Start official to immediately move a Head Start program located within the Tar Creek $uperfund site, the Tulsa World has learned.

February 13, 2009

In a joint statement released Thursday, the governor and Inhofe, R-Okla., asked Head Start Director Doug Spillman to move out several young children being served by the program.

"We understand there may be some concerns in moving the students and faculty to a new facility in the middle of a school year, however, we feel the health and safety of the students far outweighs the inconvenience of finding and moving to a new location," the statement says.

"We therefore would request that you relocate the program to a new facility immediately."

Spillman could not be reached for comment.

The Picher Head Start program is housed adjacent to the Picher Housing Authority, which is within the Tar Creek $uperfund site in far northeast Oklahoma.

The authority's executive director, John $parkman, has faced scrutiny for allowing families with young children to move to public housing in Tar Creek.

The site is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's $uperfund list for polluted areas.

$parkman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In 2005, the state spent about $3 million moving 52 families with young children.

The families included 92 children and teenagers.

$parkman served on the committee to move the children, who are susceptible to lead poisoning.

Previous studies have shown elevated levels of lead in Tar Creek children with many of the children being considered poisoned by lead.

Tar Creek is an area polluted by decades of lead and zinc mining that ended in 1971.

The federal government is spending about $60 million to move out families and businesses from the $uperfund site.

Henry's office said Spillman had proposed to move the Head Start program to Quapaw beginning the next school year.

However, that means the children would remain within the Superfund site until the end of May.

Spillman said moving the program now could result in the families being without services for 30 days.

The governor and senator said keeping the students in the toxic $uperfund site until the end of the school year is not advisable.

"Your current plan states that these families could be without services for at least 30 days if you move immediately," the statement says.

"However, we feel that the risk of the site warrants the immediate shutdown of this facility, and a temporary loss of classroom instruction would be a small cost to ensure the safety of these children."

Tulsa World

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100 Picher Residents Turn Out For Meeting With Lawyers

City lawyers, who successfully represented victims of a May 1999 tornado near Oklahoma City in a class-action suit involving claims against an insurance company, are exploring the possibility of representing residents of the Picher-Cardin area in a similar action.

February 12, 2009

PICHER, Okla. — Two Oklahoma City lawyers, who successfully represented victims of a May 1999 tornado near Oklahoma City in a class-action suit involving claims against an insurance company, are exploring the possibility of representing residents of the Picher-Cardin area in a similar action.

Jeff Marr and John Wiggans, the attorneys, and Gary Miles, a public adjuster met with about 100 people for three hours Wednesday night in the community room at the Picher Housing Authority.

The room, they said, was rented for the purpose of meeting with potential clients.

The lawyers said they were interested in talking to those who have concerns about the property-insurance settlements they received in connection with damage resulting from the May 10, 2008, tornado that struck Picher.

They said they also were there to talk to those who believe they have not been treated fairly in the government buyout being managed by the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust and the trust’s appraisal company,Cinnabar Services of Tulsa.

After hearing comments from those attending the meeting, Marr told them: “Gather all your information for us. It’s something we do want to pursue. They know what they have done.”

Many in attendance at the meeting were Picher and Cardin residents who accepted offers from the trust under protest in 2007 and 2008.

They said the appraisal company undervalued their properties, and that their appeals to the trust and to Gov. Brad Henry for help went unanswered.

They said they accepted the “take it or leave it” offers because it might be their only chance to get something for their properties, which are in the heart of the Tar Creek $uperfund Site in the former lead- and zinc-mining belt.

The state of Oklahoma is overseeing the $60 million buyout of about 700 properties in the Picher-Cardin area because of public-safety risks associated with the potential of cave-ins.

Federal tax dollars, secured by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., have funded the voluntary buyout, which should conclude later this year.

Wiggans said the constitutionality of a state law that prevents residents from suing the trust will be challenged.

He said he doubts that the trust is immune from lawsuits in that taxpayer money is funding the buyout.

In statements early last year, Robert Parmele Jr., president of Cinnabar Services, and J.D. Strong, state adviser to the trust who is now Oklahoma’s secretary of environment, said mistakes had been made with the appraisals, but that steps were taken to correct the deficiencies.

On Thursday, Parmele did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment about the possibility of a class-action lawsuit. Larry Roberts, manager of trust operations, and Paul Sund, press secretary to Henry, were asked by phone for their reaction to the possible legal action, but both declined to comment.

John Frazier, who attended the meeting and had accepted his buyout offer under protest, said: “We got some positive words last night that we never got from the trust, Cinnabar or the review appraisers. These people are at least talking to us.

“I am very hopeful about this. If I were asked to participate in a class-action lawsuit, I would.”

Aletha Redden, a Picher resident who has declined her offer from the trust, said: “I think that anyone can see that there’s something wrong when someone has paid insurance premiums for 30 years and someone else gets the settlement money.

“Just listening to them last night gave me hope. It gave us all hope.

What we want is for justice to be served and for everybody to be treated fairly.

Many of the people who were there last night are elderly people who have been bought out who probably won’t live long enough to see the benefit of a class-action lawsuit, and that’s a shame.”

Other Picher residents who attended the meeting said they were reluctant to comment for fear of retaliation from the trust involving family members who are waiting to receive buyout offers.

The lawyers told those attending the meeting that they had spent five hours before the meeting with Ed Keheley, a Picher resident who resigned from the trust when, he has said, it became apparent to him that the buyout offers were insufficient in helping people move out of the town.

Keheley, who has been critical of the trust, was traveling Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

At the beginning of the meeting, Marr asked whether anyone attending was associated with the trust or Cinnabar.

A woman said she worked for Cinnabar. She was asked to leave.

Roberts, the manager of the trust operations, said he had been told by the public adjuster that he could attend the meeting, but later was told that he could not.

Miles, the public adjuster, said he and the lawyers were concerned because some people at the meeting have not yet been approached by the trust or are in the buyout procedure.

Those residents, he said, would be reluctant to speak during the meeting if they thought they might be dealing with those Cinnabar or trust officials in the future.

Those attending the meeting were asked to fill out a one-page questionnaire about their circumstances involving the trust, the appraisal company and their insurance provider.

Those who could not attend were directed to the law firm’s Web site www.marrlawfirm.com to fill out an electronic questionnaire.

Class Action Suit

The attorneys who met Wednesday night with residents of the Picher-Cardin area successfully represented 71 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit in which a jury found that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. intentionally underpaid claims to families whose homes were damaged by a 1999 tornado near Oklahoma City.

One of the plaintiffs in that suit was awarded $13 million.

The Law Offices of Jeff D. Marr

...is dedicated to the aggressive pursuit of protecting policyholders from insurance companies who have chosen to place their financial interests above the rights of their policyholders.

Insurance companies have a legal obligation to treat their policyholders fairly and in good faith.

A breach of this legal obligation can result in a policyholder's claim being underpaid, unnecessarily delayed, or even denied entirely.

Regardless, of the type of insurance at issue in your situation, homeowner's, auto, medical, life, disability or other, if an insurance company has chosen to ignore its obligation to treat its policyholder fairly and in good faith, it may be sued for damages, emotional distress and punitive damages.

In addition to Marr's success on behalf of many insurance policyholders, they have also won verdicts in the areas of medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, and personal injury.

The Jeff D. Marr Law Offices website was launched to assist them in answering any questions you might have regarding your particular situation as promptly as possible.

If you feel you are being treated unfairly by your insurance carrier, or you are an attorney handling a bad faith case, or whatever your situation may be, please let them know by completing the Online Consultation Form.

They will be glad to follow-up with you regarding your questions.

Source: The Associated Press/Joplin Globe

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Weather Channel In Picher LIVE On During Week Of February 20!

Tell Your Picher-Twister Tornado Story Of May The 10th


FEMA To Become A Separate Agency?

Senator Inhofe said he looks forward to discussing this bill with President Obama


February 12, 2009

U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) Wednesday reintroduced the Federal Emergency Management Advancement Act of 2009, (S. 412) legislation to establish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an independent agency of the United States government.

Senator Inhofe said he looks forward to discussing this bill with President Obama who has previously made remarks supporting the goal of the bill.

Senator Inhofe’s legislation would make the cabinet level position the principal advisor to the President, Homeland Security Council, and Secretary for Homeland Security for all matters relating to emergency management, and gives them the authority to report directly to the President.

Inhofe said, “I am reintroducing legislation to give the Director of FEMA cabinet-level status in the event of natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

This has long been a priority of mine, and from what we heard on the campaign trail, this is also priority of President Obama.

I look forward to working with the President as we look for ways to help FEMA provide the best response possible.”

The introduction of the legislation coincides with the latest natural disaster to hit Oklahoma.

Tuesday, three confirmed tornadoes touched down throughout Oklahoma, impacting the communities of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Pawnee, and Lone Grove.

Senator Inhofe has been in contact with President Obama, Governor Henry, as well as local leaders Gary Hicks and City Manager Marianne Elfert this morning.

“Oklahoma has had more than our share of natural disasters.

Only last night, three confirmed tornadoes touched down throughout Oklahoma, impacting the communities of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Pawnee, and Lone Grove.”

Statements In Support of Moving FEMA

- General Russel Honore, the general placed in charge of the military’s relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, recently said that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security should be separate agencies.

In an interview reported in the Politico, General Honore said of FEMA, “I just think we’ve had some experience that demonstrates that the best thing to do is separate it and make it a separate agency.”

- President Obama said in remarks he delivered in New Orleans in February last year, “If catastrophe comes, the American people must be able to call on a competent government….

The director of FEMA will report to me… And as soon as we take office, my FEMA director will work with emergency management officials in all fifty states to create a National Response Plan.

Because we need to know - before disaster comes - who will be in charge; and how the federal, state and local governments will work together to respond.”

Senator Inhofe’s Full Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Mr. President, I am reintroducing the Federal Emergency Management Advancement Act of 2009 today, a bill to establish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an independent agency of the United States government.

Only a few months ago, General Russel Honore, the general placed in charge of the military’s relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, said that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security should be separate agencies.

In an interview reported in the Politico, General Honore said of FEMA, “I just think we’ve had some experience that demonstrates that the best thing to do is separate it and make it a separate agency.”

Most importantly, President Obama said in remarks he delivered in New Orleans in February last year, “If catastrophe comes, the American people must be able to call on a competent government….

The director of FEMA will report to me… And as soon as we take office, my FEMA director will work with emergency management officials in all fifty states to create a National Response Plan.

Because we need to know - before disaster comes - who will be in charge; and how the federal, state and local governments will work together to respond.”

I know my colleagues will not be surprised to know that I rarely agree with parts of the Democratic Platform.

However, even the Democratic Platform approved last August includes a plank part of which says, “the FEMA Director will report directly to the President.” I could not agree more.

Oklahoma has had more than our share of natural disasters. Only last night, three confirmed tornadoes touched down throughout Oklahoma, impacting the communities of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Pawnee, and Lone Grove.

Currently, there are 8 confirmed fatalities and 14 serious injuries in the Lone Grove area where more than 60 homes were destroyed.

I spoke with local leaders Gary Hicks and City Manager Marianne Elfert only this morning to learn that at least 38 other residents of Lone Grove are presently missing.

There are currently about 6,000 people without power, including 3,461 in Lone Grove, a small community.

Injuries have been reported in the Oklahoma City and Edmond area as well where homes were destroyed.

Just last year in May, I surveyed tornado damage in Picher and Cardin, two communities in the middle of a $uperfund site, with Secretary Chertoff, FEMA Director Paulison, Governor Henry, and Congressman Boren where 7 people were killed, over 100 people were injured, and many homes were destroyed.

FEMA's integration into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 added an extra layer of bureaucracy and removed much of the autonomy that once kept the agency operating efficiently.

We learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that the extra coordination required between the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was at least partly responsible for the shortcomings of the federal response.

I believe that by removing the additional layers of bureaucracy, FEMA will be able to more effectively accomplish its mission, thus reducing the loss of life and property and protecting the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

My legislation takes the necessary step of giving the Director of FEMA cabinet-level status in the event of natural disasters and acts of terrorism, makes that person the principal advisor to the President, Homeland Security Council, and Secretary for Homeland Security for all matters relating to emergency management, and gives them the authority to report directly to the President.

Perhaps most importantly, this legislation defines the primary mission and specific activities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its Director, and places directly upon them the obligation of ensuring that FEMA’s mission is carried out.

Let me explain some events that originally led me to introduce this legislation. Oklahoma first encountered significant problems with FEMA when wildfires ravaged the state in 2005 and 2006.

These devastating wildfires swept through the entire state, leading to declarations for public assistance, individual assistance and hazard mitigation funding.

In January 2007, Oklahoma encountered severe winter storms, with devastating results.

These storms led to prolonged loss of power and extensive building damage for many of my constituents.

Later that year, Oklahoma was hit by heavy rain, tornadoes, and flooding from May through September of that year.

The State made a number of disaster declarations during each of these periods, but each and every time, the process it took to obtain aid from FEMA became increasingly difficult, wrought with indecisiveness and an inability of homeland security entities to communicate among each other.

Prior to the placement of FEMA under DHS, my State had not encountered nearly the same level of bureaucratic delays or communications difficulties.

This was not the result of the failures of one individual or even one agency.

All signs pointed to an agency that had too much oversight from the Department of Homeland Security and too many elements making up the decision-making process.

In an emergency, it is imperative that quick and decisive action be taken within the first hours and days, and the bureaucratic hierarchy between the White House, DHS, and FEMA is preventing this from happening.

Oklahoma has also struggled with FEMA regarding the determination of the dates of incident periods, which is why I have included language in my bill to give deference to the State’s documentation regarding the dates of such incidents.

It makes sense that the State would have the most accurate information available regarding the disasters and the cause.

I believe this is an extremely important bill that will free FEMA from additional layers of bureaucracy and allow it to work in a more effective manner.

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New Season Kicks Off Tornado Week

TWC Asks Viewers to Submit Stories to be Featured in a Upcoming Storm Stories Episode

February 10, 2009

ATLANTA, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Storm Stories, the series that chronicles the true stories of survivors and rescuers battling amazing weather events, returns to The Weather Channel Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. ET.

The first episode, which kicks off Tornado Week, will feature the tornado that struck Windsor, CO, in 2008.

To mark the debut of the new season, The Weather Channel is giving viewers an opportunity to become part of the series by sharing their own "storm stories" online at www.weather.com/tv beginning Feb. 19th.

The new Storm Stories season will consist of 26 original episodes, with the first five premiering during Tornado Week from Feb. 22-March 1.

Storm Stories captures the drama of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

Hosted by renowned Storm Tracker Jim Cantore, the series tells these harrowing, yet inspiring, tales through first-person accounts and archived footage.

The new episodes are being produced in HD for the network by NBCU's Peacock Productions ("Caught on Camera," "Intervention: In-Depth," "Mystery of the Crystal Skulls," "Disappeared"), and after the premiere week, subsequent Storm Stories episodes will premiere Sunday nights at 8 p.m. and 12 midnight ET.

Information about both the Storm Stories season and Tornado Week can be found at www.weather.com/tv and via mobile device at www.weather.com.

The Weather Channel also offers viewers a chance to be featured in a future episode of Storm Stories.

Beginning Feb. 19, enter your personal "storm story" online at www.weather.com/tv.

Users will also be able to get more information via their mobile devices, including programming information about Storm Stories and Tornado Week, a tornado photo gallery and more details about tornadoes and safety.

"Everybody has a storm story - in fact, everywhere I go, the two things I always hear are 'Jim, what happened to Storm Stories?,' and, 'you should tell my story on The Weather Channel,'" said Jim Cantore, host of Storm Stories and on-camera meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

"Storm Stories is coming back with all new episodes, and now our viewers will have the chance to tell us their stories."

Along with Storm Stories, throughout Tornado Week, The Weather Channel will feature new content and programming to mark the beginning of the tornado season including:

  • Throughout the week, Jim Cantore will be live in towns that have seen tornado destruction first hand, including Parkersburg, IA and Picher, OK.

  • Sunday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. ET: "Greentown," a new episode of When Weather Changed History takes a deeper look at Greensburg, KS.

    In the town's attempts to rebuild as a green town in the wake of devastation, it just may be writing a modern survival guide for rural America.

  • Monday, Feb. 23, 9 p.m. ET: "Tornado!" is a new one-hour program that delves into the danger and unpredictability of tornadoes.

  • Tuesday, Feb. 24, 9 p.m. ET: "Storm Session: Nature's Fury" is a comprehensive overview of tornadoes and what causes the formation of this phenomenon.

    Joined by host Jim Cantore, severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes and Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes of Abrams & Bettes - Beyond the Forecast look "behind the scenes" of tornadoes.

  • Wednesday, Feb. 25, 9 p.m. ET: "Super Outbreak," a new episode of When Weather Changed History, looks at the April 1974 outbreak when 148 tornadoes tore through the Midwest and South, killing 335 people, debunking several tornado myths, and forever changing the way we look at and forecast tornadoes.

  • Tornado-focused encore presentations will air of such series as Full Force Nature, It Could Happen Tomorrow, and past episodes of Storm Stories.

  • While Jim Cantore reports from storm damaged areas during Tornado Week to mark the beginning of tornado season, he and The Weather Channel will deliver free subscriptions to its weather notification product, Notify! to residents.

    Parkersburg, IA, and Picher, OK, recently saw firsthand what tornado destruction can do, and while still rebuilding, residents can enjoy the peace of mind that the service provides.

    Notify! by The Weather Channel is a customizable alerts product triggered by severe weather warnings that delivers notifications via phone, text or e-mail.

    For more on Notify!, visit www.weather.com/notify

    Source: The Weather Channel

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    2NEWS Wins Industry Awards For Picher Tornado Coverage

    The winning 2NEWS at 10pm newscast entitled “Picher Tornado Clean-up”

    February 4, 2009

    (KJRH) KJRH 2 Works for You has won several prestigious awards this past month including an Addy award, two awards from the Oklahoma Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and two from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters (OAB).

    2News won second place for Best Newscast and first place for Best Online Writing at the Oklahoma Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) annual awards banquet Saturday, January 31st at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Tulsa.

    The winning 2NEWS at 10pm newscast entitled “Picher Tornado Clean-up” was produced by Phil Berman, directed by Michelle Andrews, and featured 2News Anchor Lindsay Patterson, Meteorologist George Waldenberger, Sports Anchor Jason Shackelford and 2News Reporters Keidron Dotson and Krista Flasch.

    2News Reporter Beth Burnett won the Best Online Writing Award for her story, “The Story of Allyson” that was posted exclusively on kjrh.com.

    In January, Creative Services Writer/Producer Jon Wilson was awarded an Addy award for the recent “Breaking News: HD” image spot that was launched on-air in HD during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    The Addy Awards will be February 21st, 2009 at Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

    For the third year in a row, the OAB awarded 2News at 10pm Sports, anchored by 2NEWS Sports Director “Big” Al Jerkens, with 2008 OAB Award for Metro Sportscast.

    KJRH 2 Works for You was also recognized by the OAB with a 2008 Community Service Award.

    The OAB Awards Banquet will be held Friday April 17th at the Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa.

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    Henry Pushes HUD To Close Picher Units

    John $parkman Told To Close Units

    A public housing program is putting children back into an area polluted by mining.

    January 30, 2009

    PICHER — The Governor's Office is encouraging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to move forward with a plan to shut down a public housing program in Picher and thus remove young children from the Tar Creek $uperfund site.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and HUD met last week to address a decision by the Picher Housing Authority to move young children back into the Tar Creek $uperfund site, an area in Ottawa County polluted by decades of lead and zinc mining.

    The agencies said: "(EPA and HUD) are working to ensure that families living in the Picher area are not adversely affected by the Tar Creek $uperfund site. EPA and HUD support the voluntary relocation of residents currently under way and will continue to coordinate with LICRAT, Governor Henry, and Senator Inhofe toward the voluntary relocation of residents and with the Picher Housing Authority to assure that an orderly phase out and shutdown of the units occurs."

    LICRAT is the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust.

    Henry's office said: "If this gets people out of harm's way and keeps them out of harm's way, it is a step in the right direction. The quicker safer housing can be found outside the $uperfund site, the better.

    It just doesn't make any sense for one federal agency to spend tax dollars moving people out of the Tar Creek site while another agency is spending money to move them back in.

    "Hopefully, this signals an end to that practice," Henry's office said. "Because of the threat of cave-ins and lead exposure throughout the town of Picher, the area simply is not safe."

    Currently, there is a $60 million federal buyout of homes and businesses in Tar Creek.

    Meanwhile, an expert on the effects of lead exposure said that moving children back into the $uperfund site is dangerous and short-sighted.

    Dr. Bill Banner, medical director of the Oklahoma Poison Control Center, said that lead pollution is not the only health issue that children face in Tar Creek.

    "It is beyond comprehension that people would want to go put their children in that kind of situation," Banner said.

    "Here you have a place where you can walk from school to an open mine shaft and possibly fall in. You don't have to get lead exposure for a child to be placed in potential harm's way."

    The Picher Housing Authority recently moved families with young children into the $uperfund site after the state spent about $3 million in 2005 moving families with young children out. Tar Creek is one of the oldest sites on the EPA's $uperfund list.

    U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., has said that "children should be banned from living in Picher Housing units".

    John $parkman, executive director of Picher Housing Authority, said he allowed the families to move in because of a housing crunch in Ottawa County.

    $parkman said the children will be safe as long as they practice proper safety tips such as thorough hand washing to remove any lead residue they might pick up in the area.

    Banner said the safety tips may be meaningless for some families.

    "It is not smart to move kids in there even if they are doing proper hand washing," Banner said. "The children most affected by lead are 1 year old to 6 years old. These kids typically don't do proper hand washing and they don't follow the rules."

    $parkman has overseen the Picher Housing Authority for 18 years. He has been a leading advocate of the effort to move children and families out of Tar Creek. He served on the 2005 relocation committee which voluntarily moved out families with young children.

    $parkman oversees 54 low-income housing units. Fifteen residents have accepted buyout offers and therefore opened up vacant units. Nineteen others are expected to move out when their offers are approved later this year.

    What has John $parkman said publicly about the site:

    After years of lobbying for the removal of families and children from Tar Creek due to lead pollution and sinkholes, Picher Housing Authority Executive Director John $parkman now says it is safe for children to live in Tar Creek if they observe proper practices of avoiding chat piles and proper hand washing.

    Here are earlier quotes from $parkman on the issue through the years:

    “Welcome to hell, because you’re pretty much in it.” (ABC Nightline broadcast—March 1, 2002)

    “It’s sad and I hate to see these homes come down. But we have to think about the children and their health. It needs to be done.” (Tulsa World — Oct . 15, 2005)

    “If we got a new location, we got a chance. The future of our kids depends on what is going to happen in the next few years.’’ (Tulsa World — Sept. 12, 2000)

    Referring to children in Picher playing on chat piles: “You can tell there’s a lot of kid activity up here.’’ (Tulsa World —March 11, 2001)

    “Would you raise your kid in this environment?” (ABC Nightline broadcast — March 1, 2002)

    Referring to a botched investigation of children’s blood samples, later found to be tampered with by field workers: “This is like setting fire to your own house while you are the local arson investigator and saying nothing is wrong.” (Tulsa World — Jan. 2 0, 2005)

    Referring to dust laced with lead, cadmium and other poisonous metals blowing off the man-made hills and 800 acres of dry settling ponds: “It gets in your teeth. It cakes in your ears and hair. It’s like we’ve been environmentally raped.” (Time Magazine (online) —April 19, 2004)

    “The buyout is something you will never be able to fully gauge in terms of the positive impact it has had on people’s lives by letting them move from harm’s way. It will also prevent any future generations from having to live in such a bad environment. That is something that cannot be measured.” (Joplin Globe — Jan. 15, 2009)

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    ORGANIZATION | Picher Housing Authority


    Administrative costs at the Picher Housing Authority have climbed nearly 30 percent despite a decrease in public housing rentals in the past two years within the Tar Creek $uperfund site, a Tulsa World investigation shows.

    January 30, 2009

    PICHER — Picher Housing Authority offers public housing for low-income families and individuals living in Picher, a former mining town polluted by lead and zinc contamination.

    Currently, the federal government is spending $60 million to voluntarily relocate families and businesses from Tar Creek, which is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s $uperfund list.

    Office expenses and administrative costs at the agency have risen $27,869 since the fiscal year that ended in June 2007.

    However, since 2006, housing officials have closed down 24 of 78 rental units because of dangerous undermining caused by lead and zinc mining.

    Currently, seven units are vacant.

    When counting vacant and condemned units, Picher Housing rentals have declined 40 percent in two years.

    John $parkman, executive director of Picher Housing Authority, could not be reached immediately for comment.

    Many Residents Bought Out

    An attorney representing the housing authority said $parkman had done nothing wrong.

    $parkman has faced public scrutiny for advertising vacant housing units and allowing families with young children to move into the $uperfund site after the state spent $3 million moving children out in 2005 to protect them.

    $parkman earns $34,153 and oversees a total of 54 housing units.

    In 2008, he hired two assistants who earn $15 an hour working 10 to 25 hours a week, according to information he released. Currently, 85 residents live in 54 units, records show.

    Eleven units were vacant when he advertised vacancies in August 2008 during the buyout, which included renters.

    $parkman has said he is developing a plan to close the units since most of its residents have applied for the buyout.

    Tulsa: Picher public housing costs rise amid buyout

    PICHER — Administrative costs at the Picher Housing Authority have climbed nearly 30 percent despite a decrease in public housing rentals in the past two years within the Tar Creek $uperfund...

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    Up A Creek: Picher Rental Plan Should Be Scrapped


    The mess that is Tar Creek continues to make news in Oklahoma, and as usual it isn’t good news.

    January 30, 2009

    Tar Creek is a $uperfund site in northeastern Oklahoma where for years, various agencies tried to solve the many environmental problems left behind when the lead and zinc mining industry dried up.

    Those include sinkholes, tainted water and high concentrations of lead in the region.

    In 2005, the state offered a buyout to families with young children, who are particularly susceptible to damage caused by lead.

    That was followed later by a $60 million federal program to help people move elsewhere.

    That program is now about halfway completed.

    But recently it was reported that as many people are leaving the town of Picher, which is at the center of Tar Creek, other families are moving into rental units offered by the Picher Housing Authority.

    Some of these families have children.

    Henry rightly called this "an outrage,” especially considering the housing authority has the blessing of the feds — the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency.

    Henry is urging HUD to move ahead with a plan to do away with the housing program. He and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who helped get the federal buyout, agree there is no way that families with children should be in those rental units.

    Right again. The state and federal buyout plans represented rare good news from Tar Creek — the chance for a real solution.

    Now this. Just because some people want to rent in Picher doesn’t mean they should be allowed to do so

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    In Tar Creek Area, Some Are Worried About Lead Risk; Others Ain’t

    EPA/HUD Joint Statement on the Picher, Oklahoma, Housing Authority

    January 26, 2009

    (Dallas, Texas – January 26, 2009)

    Officials of the Regional offices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are working together to ensure that families living in the Picher area are not adversely affected by the Tar Creek $uperfund site.

    EPA and HUD support the voluntary relocation of residents currently under way.

    Both agencies will continue to work closely with Governor Henry and Senator Inhofe to address individual needs of those who lost their homes in recent disasters.

    More about activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/region6

    Note: EPA’s news release process is shifting to an email based distribution system.

    If your organization has a preferred email account(s) for future announcements, please provide your information to us at r6press@epa.gov or call our press office at 214-665-2200.

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    Tulsa: Buyout Didn’t Stop Tar Creek Area Public-Housing Rentals

    In Tar Creek area, some are worried about lead risk; others aren’t

    January 24, 2009

    Sarah Alley, 14, talks on the phone Thursday on the back porch of her home at the Picher Housing Authority neighborhood

    PICHER — During a time when families were being moved out of public housing because of undermined roadways and potential health hazards, the director, John $parkman of the local housing project was advertising for renters, a Tulsa World investigation has found.

    That was about two years after the federal government announced a $60 million voluntary buyout of families, businesses and public-use facilities in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville.

    The area, known as Tar Creek, is on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s $uperfund list due to lead and zinc pollution attributed to mining, which ended in the area in 1971. It is one of the oldest $uperfund sites.

    Picher Housing Authority rental units were opening up after renters moved out of them as part of the federal buyout.

    Fifteen residents of the housing program have been relocated, while 19 other applicants await final approval of their applications, said Larry Roberts, operations manager for the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust.

    EPA and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development representatives met Friday to discuss the Picher Housing Authority and the issues, officials said. They are expected to release a statement Monday.

    Gov. Brad Henry said Friday that moving children back into the Superfund site is an outrage. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said families with young children should be barred from moving into Picher Housing Authority homes.

    Medical studies have shown that children in the area have had blood-lead levels significantly higher than the federal standard. Many of the children have had lead poisoning.

    The World interviewed two mothers who chose to move their children into Picher Housing Authority rental units. The program offers affordable housing for elderly people and low-income families.

    What do tenants say?


    Darian Baca, 12, left, Karynn Alley, 11, and Aliyah Hilliard play on a bridge Thursday near the Picher Housing Authority neighborhood where they all live.

    As first reported Friday on tulsaworld.com, an advertisement appeared in the Miami News Record newspaper in August stating that the Picher Housing Authority was seeking new renters.

    Karen Baca and her family moved from Missouri into the housing units in December, she said. Baca and her husband have three children, ages 12, 6, and 5.

    Baca said she was concerned about lead but said she was reassured by the Picher Housing Authority that lead would not be a problem if the children employed frequent hand washing and other practices.

    "I have asked everyone around here, and they have said that the lead is no problem,” Baca said. "I made sure that I checked it out before we moved here.”

    The Bacas moved into a rental unit that costs $159 a month, which helps them make ends meet in a town with few well-paying jobs.

    Starla Ritchie lives in a unit with her two children, ages 15 and 13.

    "I am convinced that it is safe, because I grew up here. None of us have been affected by the lead,” she said. "I am a single mother, and this is affordable housing. I have no problem living here or having my children live here.”

    John $parkman, executive director of the Picher Housing Authority, defended his decision to allow children to move back into the $uperfund site.

    "These housing units are not undermined, nor are they unsafe for living in them,” $parkman said. "There is a housing shortage, and we are providing housing to those needing affordable housing.”

    Nonetheless, $parkman said he is developing a plan to shut down the housing units, since there is now a firm date for the federal buyout to end. That date could be in late December.

    Tulsa World

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    Eleven!

    A great tourist attraction has been brought back to life in Afton, OK
    A must for any visitor to our area, stop by and see Laurel Kane the project owner.

    January 24, 2009

    Today broke records for winter visitors at Afton Station!

    Eleven people braved the COLD day to come for a visit, and I was thrilled.

    Marly came as soon as I got there and stayed all day. I had expected such a dull day that I took some crossword puzzles, a book, the newspaper, and a few cleaning products in anticipation of the need to fill some time alone.

    That didn't happen. I didn't even have time to eat lunch.

    A truck driver and his young grandson were the first ones in the door, deciding to come in and have a look at the cars on their way from Eastern OK to their home in Paris, TX. (Remember that movie?)

    They were hauling a load of plastic pellets in one of the biggest and shiniest tanker trucks I've ever seen.

    Truckers are always happy to know they can park their big rigs just about anywhere in Afton without getting into trouble.

    Three folks from Miami came in shortly thereafter. Two of the guys are model train enthusiasts, and one of them has a G-gauge train in his front yard! He invited me to drive up and see it some day, and I believe I will. I love model trains.

    A family of six from Webb City, MO stopped by on a sunny day drive. By the time they arrived, the Station had warmed up pretty well, but the car showroom area was still extremely chilly since I'm trying to save money by not turning up the heat in there when there are no visitors.

    Little did I know we'd have plenty of people wanting to see the cars today. The dad of this brood had owned a couple of Packards in the past and was mourning the fact that he'd sold them a few years ago.

    We also had three cars stop in front of the Station, stare in the window, and then leave. That's always so disappointing. Didn't they like what they saw? Did we look like we were closed?

    (No, all of our OPEN flags were out, the lights on, and we waved them in.) Did we scare them off? We'll never know, I guess.

    The following picture is from this morning's Tulsa World. For those of you who are following my Tar Creek/Picher site -- here are some kids playing on a bridge over the contaminated area!

    This is getting more and more sad and ridiculous.

    Today's article, which goes a little more in depth about the problem and interviews some of the parents who have agreed to move their kids back to the site, can be seen at: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090124_11_A1_Darian150820. It's all just unbelievable.

    Who Is Laurel Kane ...

    I'm the owner of Afton Station, in Afton Oklahoma, a small private Route 66 memorabilia and antique car museum housed in a restored filling station.

    We are visited daily by both domestic and foreign travelers who are exploring the charms of old Route 66. Their stories will be told here (and maybe a little bit of other stuff, too.)

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    Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry Angered By Rentals In Tar Creek Public Housing

    Gov. Brad Henry said Thursday that moving families into Tar Creek public housing is an "outrage” and called for immediate alternatives. Despite a $60 million federal voluntary buyout

    January 23, 2009

    Gov. Brad Henry said Thursday that moving families into Tar Creek public housing is an "outrage” and called for immediate alternatives.

    Despite a $60 million federal voluntary buyout of properties, the Picher Housing Authority has rented several low-income units to families, which include about 15 children.

    The authority is doing so under guidelines and approval from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency.

    "I was shocked and disappointed to learn that people are being allowed to move back in, especially families with young children,” Henry said in a written statement on Thursday.

    "It’s even more frustrating that it is being done under the umbrella of a federal housing program, no less.”

    The Tar Creek area, which is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s $uperfund list, is in Ottawa County in northeastern Oklahoma.

    It has been contaminated by lead and zinc mining, which ended in the early ’70s.

    In addition to the federal relocation of 700 families and businesses, the state offered a buyout in 2005 for 52 families with young children.

    The federal buyout is about halfway through.

    "Knowing the dangers of subsidence and lead exposure to young children, it defies common sense to allow people back into the at-risk area, particularly after the state and federal government have spent several million dollars moving families out of harm’s way,” Henry states.

    "Clearly, this action is not in the best interest of the state or the people involved.”

    What Does HUD Say?

    HUD spokeswoman Patricia Campbell said the agency has been working closely with the EPA and housing authority to make sure the units being rented are safe.

    The authority had closed 24 units previously because they were located on mines that could collapse.

    It currently has 54 units not undermined by contamination, according to authority officials.

    "One of the issues involved is the dire need for housing in that area,” she said. "There is no housing in that area and that was one of the considerations.

    We would not be placing people in units that are not safe and habitable.”

    Campbell said a plan to relocate the housing authority, public housing units and families living in public housing is being drafted and needs to be approved by the state Legislature and HUD, which has not yet received the plan from the Picher authority.

    The regional offices of HUD and the EPA, in Texas, are meeting today, Campbell said.

    Picher Housing Authority Executive Director John Sparkman declined comment Thursday.

    On Wednesday, $parkman said he was required by federal guidelines to rent the units to eligible people who wanted them.

    Henry has requested interviews with the heads of HUD and EPA, but those positions are in transition, said Henry’s spokesman, Paul Sund.

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    Children Moving Back To Tar Creek

    And federal funds are placing the families in the $uperfund site

    Januay 23, 2009

    Oklahoma City - Gov. Brad Henry says moving families into Tar Creek public housing is an "outrage" and that alternatives must be found immediately.

    PICHER — Federal funds are being used to move families with children into a Superfund site at the same time the federal government is spending millions of dollars to move families out of harm's way.

    The Tar Creek area, which is on the Environmental Protection Agency's $uperfund list, is in Ottawa County in far northeastern Oklahoma.

    The federal government is spending an estimated $60 million to voluntarily relocate families and businesses that are threatened by undermining and lead contamination.

    As first reported Wednesday on tulsaworld.com, Dr. Mark Osborn, chairman of the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, said the Picher Housing Authority appears to be refilling its housing units as fast as the relocation committee is emptying them.

    "It is exasperating to think that one agency of the federal government would spend more than $60 million to buy out the residents of a community that had been found to be unsafe for habitation, while another agency of the federal government (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) would purposely move other families into the very same community," Osborn said.

    "Apparently, as soon as we pay to relocate the residents of Picher public housing, HUD moves families into the vacant units, including families with children under 6 years old we have worked so hard to protect. I would hope that it would be inconceivable, but apparently it is not."

    The federal buyout is similar to a state-sponsored relocation project that voluntarily removed 52 families with young children in 2005.

    With the federal buyout past the halfway point, the Picher Housing Authority has recently rented several low-income units to individuals or families with children, said John $parkman, executive director of the authority.

    $parkman said 15 of the children are ages 1 to 15. Lead poisoning is known to affect children 6 years old and younger.

    "We are a government housing program, and we just can't turn renters away," $parkman said.

    "We are working on a plan to close down the units, but it will take awhile to do that. You just can't shut this down lickety-split like that."

    The Picher Housing Authority offers 54 low-income units governed by HUD guidelines, he said.

    $parkman is a long-time advocate of removing families from the Tar Creek $uperfund site.

    He served on the relocation committee that removed the families with small children in 2005.

    In the past, he has not flinched at taking action to close down housing units that were threatened by undermining.

    In 2006, $parkman and the housing board acted quickly to close 24 units because they were built atop mines with a potential for collapse.

    The 54 remaining units are not undermined, $parkman said.

    Danny Finnerty, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said $parkman is following HUD guidelines to offer safe housing as long as the need is apparent and until the units are shut down.

    "According to HUD, he is obligated to rent to families and individuals," Finnerty said. "You have to understand that the units are not undermined nor are they in immediate danger."

    When asked about the children being moved into Tar Creek, Finnerty said: "This is a temporary situation, and these units are not undermined."

    $parkman said: "The safety of the children has always been a priority for me, and this is no different. We are educating the families about the dangers of lead contamination."

    The new renters won't qualify for the buyout program, since the deadline for applying has passed, $parkman said.

    He could not give a definite timeline for shutting down the housing units. However, the federal buyout is expected to end in December, and he now has a more firm deadline to submit to HUD, he said.

    Until the housing units are shut down, they are being used to help low-income families and families affected by natural disasters, he said.

    "These units are still serving a useful purpose," $parkman said. "We are still housing some of the May tornado victims (from Picher). There are also people from the Miami (Okla.) flood, too."

    Tar Creek Background

    Where: The $uperfund site covers about 40 square miles in Ottawa County in far northeastern Oklahoma. It was contaminated by lead and zinc mining, which ended in the early 1970s.

    Federal buyout: The government is spending about $60 million to relocate 700 families and businesses threatened by undermined areas and pollution. The federal buyout is more than half complete.

    State buyout: A state buyout in 2005 voluntarily removed 52 families with young children

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    Henry Calls For Action At Picher

    Moving families into Tar Creek public housing is an "outrage" and that alternatives must be found immediately.

    Januay 23, 2009

    Oklahoma City - Gov. Brad Henry (web | news) says moving families into Tar Creek public housing is an "outrage" and that alternatives must be found immediately.

    The governor's comments came Thursday in response to a Tulsa World story which reported that despite a $60 million federal voluntary buyout of properties, the Picher Housing Authority has rented several low-income units to families, including about 15 children.

    The authority is renting the units under guidelines and approval from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency.

    The Tar Creek area, which is on the Environmental Protection Agency's $uperfund list, is in northeastern Oklahoma. It has been contaminated by lead and zinc mining, which ended in the early 1970s.

    HUD spokeswoman Patricia Campbell says the agency has been working closely with the EPA and housing authority to make sure the units being rented are safe.

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    Inhofe Discusses Tar Creek With Obama’s EPA Nominee

    Inhofe has secured a commitment for Tar Creek funding from Lisa Jackson, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
    U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

    January 15, 2009

    U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said he has secured a commitment for Tar Creek funding from Lisa Jackson, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Inhofe is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

    Inhofe said in a telephone interview Thursday that Jackson is committed to the completion of the buyout and relocation of residents from the Picher-Cardin area, and after that is done, the continued cleanup of the Picher Mining Field in Northeast Oklahoma.

    “She publicly committed to seeing this (the buyout) all of the way through as we knew it would be,” he said. “Of course, virtually all of the money is there and is committed now.

    After all that is over, we are still going to have to do a massive cleanup, and she has committed to that. And I think that’s significant because she will be the new EPA director.”

    Ed Keheley, a Picher resident who has advised the senator and state officials about the Tar Creek site, said: “It’s refreshing to see the senator is still pushing to clean up Tar Creek. That’s consistent with his commitment back in 2004.”

    Keheley said it is his understanding that the buyout is 95 percent complete, but that some properties were only recently appraised. Keheley, who has been critical of the second buyout at Picher, added, “I hope they get it over soon because it’s been a long, tortuous journey for a lot of people.”

    The first buyout at Picher helped families with small children leave the site to shield children from lead exposure; the second buyout is focusing on remaining residents.

    John $parkman, head of the Picher Housing Authority and among the first to advocate a buyout at Picher, said Thursday: “I think this shows Senator Inhofe’s commitment to seeing this project through. People in this area probably don’t realize what a major undertaking this buyout has been.

    “The buyout is something you will never be able to fully gauge in terms of the positive impact it has had on people’s lives by letting them move from harm’s way.

    It will also prevent any future generations from having to live in such a bad environment. That is something that cannot be measured. The continuation of Senator Inhofe’s efforts at Tar Creek will certainly be one of his greatest accomplishments.”

    ‘Most Severe’

    “Since the early 1980s, EPA has ranked this site as one of the most severe in the country.

    We have made tremendous progress over the years to put together a coordinated remediation plan and provide assistance to the residents of the area.

    As we reach the finish line, I am looking forward to working with Lisa Jackson to complete the relocation work very soon and continue to work on the ultimate cleanup of the area.”

    — Statement from U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.

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    Inhofe Asks For Commitment To Tar Creek

    Suggesting the lessons learned at Tar Creek could be applied to other sites.


    January 14, 2009

    In this file photo, Picher resident and city council member Phillip Johnson speaks to U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe after a meeting he held with residents in December 2003 in Miami, Oklahoma to discuss the Tar Creek $uperfund site.

    Inhofe asked EPA administrator nominee Lisa Jackson Wednesday for a public commitment Wednesday to finish the Tar Creek buyouts and an ultimate cleanup of the huge $uperfund site. Tulsa World File

    World Washington Bureau
    Published: 1/14/2009 12:16 PM - Last Modified: 1/14/2009 8:04 PM

    Tar Creek: $20 Million Off: Federal Buyout Shy Of Needs

    ARCHIVE RELATED STORY

    SOURCE: World Staff Writer - Published: 11/1/2006 5:07 AM - Last Modified: 5/11/2008 11:51 PM

    PICHER -- A federal buyout appears to be more than $20 million short of the amount needed to purchase all qualifying properties in the Tar Creek $uperfund site, and the amount available does not appear to be enough to purchase all residences in the most risky part of the buyout zone.

    Tensions are rising among residents who realize that they could be left out of the voluntary buyout unless additional funds materialize, an official said.

    "I have talked to people who are concerned about there being enough money," said Ed Keheley, a relocation committee member. "They ask me, 'Am I going to be bought out?' and I can't answer that."

    Officials who are overseeing the buyout concede that not enough funds are available to buy the properties of everyone who qualifies.

    But "Sen. Jim Inhofe and Gov. Henry are committed to making this buyout successful for all of the affected communities," said J. D. Strong, chief of staff for the Oklahoma secretary of the environment. "It is no doubt that there will need to be more money and no doubt it will take us several months to line up additional funding."

    The state committee that is handling the federal buyout has $18.8 million on hand. An additional $20 million may be needed based on the size of the buyout zone and the number of buyout applications received before a Sept. 30 deadline, said Inhofe spokesman Danny Finnerty.

    The buyout is overseen by the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust. The committee has established a three-tier buyout plan that includes residences, businesses

    and public-use facilities within the 12,000-acre buyout zone.

    Currently, 210 Picher, Cardin and Hockerville homes and businesses that are heavily undermined are the relocation committee's top priority. The top-priority list is expected to exceed 300 structures when hardship cases are added.

    "With hardship cases added, it could be a stretch to buy out all of the Priority One qualifiers with available funds," Strong said.

    The buyout has been billed as an $18.8 million relocation plan for those living in the most-affected area of the $uperfund site. Yet estimates show that the buyout could reach $40 million to $50 million to cover everyone who wants to leave a lead-polluted home or business, Keheley said.

    "We need at least another $20 million to do the buyout completely -- and maybe more," said Keheley, the committee's expert on Tar Creek subsidence -- or cave ins.

    From the beginning of the buyout process, relocation officials have acknowledged the need for more funds and for a phased buyout of Tar Creek homes and businesses.

    Now, after receiving a flood of buyout applications and counting the potential properties in the buyout zone, committee members have a better estimate of the total amount needed, Keheley said.

    The committee has received 879 relocation applications, which represent an overwhelming number of residents who want to leave.

    Finnerty said some of the additional funds should be available through the federal Water Resources Development Act, which is expected to be voted on by the U.S. Senate in November.

    "Sen. Inhofe is absolutely committed to getting the necessary funds to move out everyone qualifying for the relocation plan," Finnerty said.

    On Wednesday, the relocation committee is expected to discuss how it will proceed in buying the Priority One homes, businesses and public-use facilities.

    Hardship cases being added to the top priority list include the elderly, physically ill and mentally ill, said Dr. Mark Osborn, a Miami, Okla., physician and relocation committee member.

    In total, 695 residences and structures within the buyout zone could qualify for some form of buyout, Keheley said.

    Priority Two applicants include occupied residences, businesses and public-use structures where access requires travel over streets or highways overlying areas of potential cave-ins and which are connected to Picher or Cardin water or sewer systems.

    Priority Three applicants include all other occupied residences, businesses and public-use structures within the buyout zone.

    How The Tar Creek Buyout Works

    ARCHIVE RELATED STORY

    What is the Tar Creek buyout?

    The buyout is a federal relocation of residents and businesses in the Tar Creek $uperfund site in Ottawa County.

    Residents are being offered the buyout because of damage caused by decades of lead and zinc mining in the area.

    Those qualifying will be offered fair market value for their devalued homes and businesses.

    How many people are being bought out?

    Potentially, those in the 695 homes, businesses and public-use structures within the buyout zone in Picher, Cardin and Hockerville.

    Is everyone being bought out?

    Currently, the relocation committee is working to buy about 210 residences, businesses and public-use facilities.

    These are top-priority applications involving homes and businesses located near heavily undermined areas.

    How much money is available, and from where will additional money come?

    The relocation committee has $18.8 million on hand.

    Some additional funds are being sought through the Water Res