{"id":25153,"date":"2015-10-01T14:05:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T19:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=25153"},"modified":"2015-10-02T09:03:18","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T14:03:18","slug":"challenges-and-progress-cleaning-up-one-of-oklahomas-most-polluted-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/10\/01\/challenges-and-progress-cleaning-up-one-of-oklahomas-most-polluted-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges and Progress Cleaning Up One of Oklahoma\u2019s Most Polluted Places"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25160\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25160\" alt=\"University of Oklahoma professor Bob Nairn stands on a bridge overlooking Tar Creek, which is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, iron, lead and zinc from decades of mining.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek165_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek165_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek165_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek165_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek165_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Oklahoma professor Bob Nairn stands on a bridge overlooking Tar Creek, which is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, iron, lead and zinc from decades of mining.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The Tri-State Mining District in northeastern Oklahoma\u2019s Ottawa County was once the world\u2019s largest source of lead and zinc. The mines had closed by the 1970s, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2009\/US\/06\/30\/oklahoma.toxic.town\/\">pernicious pollution<\/a> still plagues what is now known as the Tar Creek superfund site.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/226444754&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more-->\u201cYou read anecdotal accounts of the number of bars and restaurants and stuff like that,\u201d says Bob Nairn, a professor at the University of Oklahoma and the director of the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds. \u201cIt was a booming place to be in those mining days.\u201d<\/p><p>More than 11,000 men worked the mines during peak production in the 1920s. They produced about half the lead and zinc needed in World War I, and were the lifeblood of small Oklahoma towns like Cardin, Commerce and Picher.<\/p><p>\u201cTo a certain degree, it\u2019s been forgotten in a lot of ways,\u201d Nairn says. \u201cBut the history here is really interesting, really outstanding. And the local folks are proud of it \u2014 and they should be \u2014 of that industrial heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25154\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-25154\" alt=\"Blast hole drillers at a zinc mine of the Eagle-Picher Company near Cardin, Okla., in 1943.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-620x623.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-620x623.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-498x500.jpg 498w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08312v.jpg 1019w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Fritz Henle \/ Library of Congress<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blast hole drillers at a zinc mine of the Eagle-Picher Company near Cardin, Okla., in 1943.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Lead Legacy<\/h4><p>Much of that industrial history won\u2019t fade for decades. In 1983, the Tar Creek district was declared <a href=\"http:\/\/www.deq.state.ok.us\/lpdnew\/SF\/Superfund%20Project\/SF%20Site%20Summaries\/TarCreek.html\">a national hazardous waste priority<\/a>. The mining left hills of toxic, moon-colored waste, called chat, that are as tall as 15-story buildings. Elevated levels of lead were found in children, fish, birds and plants.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s a huge superfund site, it\u2019s going to take a long time to get it fully cleaned up,\u201d says Dustin Davidson, an environmental programs manager with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25166\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 295px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-25166\" alt=\"A mountain of waste rock grows steadily outside a zinc concentrator near Cardin, Okla., in 1943.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-295x300.jpg\" width=\"295\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-295x300.jpg 295w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-492x500.jpg 492w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-148x150.jpg 148w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-620x630.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/8b08321v.jpg 1008w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Fritz Henle \/ Library of Congress<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mountain of waste rock grows steadily outside a zinc concentrator near Cardin, Okla., in 1943.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>A coalition of local, federal and tribal governments have a hand in the Tar Creek cleanup. A new five-year progress report due this week highlights progress and ongoing challenges at the site. Lead levels in children have dropped. Residents took government buyouts and moved. Water wells were plugged and thousands of properties have been remediated.<\/p><p>\u201cI think that we have a good grasp of the problems at Tar Creek,\u201d says Davidson. But, he says, \u201cThere\u2019s always potential unknowns when you\u2019re working on a superfund site.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Bad Water for a Long Time<\/h3><p>Water pollution is a long-term hazard at Tar Creek. Runoff from the chat piles picks up harmful metals and leeches into the soil, where it can affect various water sources.<\/p><p>But contaminated groundwater poses a longer term hazard, Nairn says. When the lead and zinc mines were abandoned and their pumps switched off, the caverns filled with water that soaked up harmful metals.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25159\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25159\" alt=\"Acidic, toxic mine water flows between the baseball field and football field at the high school in Commerce, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek174_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek174_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek174_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek174_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek174_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toxic mine water flows between the baseball field and football field at the high school in Commerce, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>\u201cAll of these discharges contained elevated iron. That\u2019s the orange color that everybody sees,\u201d says Nairn. \u201cBut what they don\u2019t see are elevated zinc, cadmium, lead, arsenic.\u201d<\/p><p>Roughly 32 billion gallons of toxic mine water \u2014 a small lakes\u2019 worth \u2014 is steadily gurgling to the surface and flowing into streams and creeks. The toxic spring could flow for centuries, Nairn says.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to have bad water coming out of the ground for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Irretrievably damaged\u2019<\/h3><p>To tackle the massive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/region6\/6sf\/oklahoma\/tar_creek\/#infob\">Tar Creek cleanup<\/a>, the effort was divided into five separate projects. They\u2019re unique, but each involves potential water pollution. Thirty years ago, the contamination from the growing pool of mine water was deemed too broken and too expensive to fix.<\/p><p>\u201cThe Record of Decision on surface and groundwaters says that the waters were irretrievably damaged and not a whole lot was done to improve those waters,\u201d Nairn says.<\/p><p>Researchers have made a lot of progress since then. Nairn started researching Tar Creek\u2019s water contamination in the mid-\u201990s. Seeded with $3 million of funding, Nairn\u2019s team designed a <a href=\"http:\/\/itrcweb.org\/bcr-1\/Content\/Appendix%20B%20Case%20Studies\/B2%20Mayer%20Ranch%20Commerce%20Site.htm\">passive water treatment system<\/a> that was built in 2008.<\/p><p>The system looks like a field of slimy ponds near the small town of Commerce, but Nairn says there\u2019s a lot of science below the scummy surface. The system uses a combination of microbes, oxygen, gravity, rocks and wetlands to improve the mine water discharge.<\/p><p>\u201cThe whole idea is to create the right conditions for natural processes to happen that will improve water quality,\u201d Nairn says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25158\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25158\" alt=\"A tractor-trailer passes by a mountain of moon-colored mining waste, called chat, near the former town of Picher, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek077_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek077_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek077_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek077_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/20150924-tar-creek077_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tractor-trailer passes by a mountain of moon-colored mining waste, called chat, near the former town of Picher, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The passive treatment system appears to be working. The results are so promising, a second passive treatment system is being built. Construction bids are out, and Nairn expects construction to start sometime this winter.<\/p><p>Cleanup at the Tar Creek superfund site will take decades. The environment may never be completely restored. The United States needed the lead and zinc from this land to fight two world wars. That\u2019s why Nairn says the whole country has a stake in making sure every possible tool is used to clean up Tar Creek \u2014 and other polluted sites like it.<\/p><p>\u201cSaying that we can\u2019t fix the problem is troubling on multiple levels, to me, as a scientist \u2014 as a citizen,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<hr \/><p><em>Clarification: An earlier version of this story referred to the underground mine water as acidic, which was a more relevant characteristic when the mines first filled. Alkalinity is a bigger concern for current mine water discharges.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tri-State Mining District in northeastern Oklahoma\u2019s Ottawa County was once the world\u2019s largest source of lead and zinc. The mines had closed by the 1970s, but pernicious pollution still plagues what is now known as the Tar Creek superfund site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":25156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[12,499,447,495,652,600],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25153"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25175,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25153\/revisions\/25175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}