Mountains of tailings from abandoned lead and zinc mines, many reaching several hundred feet high, surround the town of Treece, Kan. (June 23, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
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)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
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)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Mine tailings in Picher, Okla. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Welcome sign on U.S. Highway 69. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Workers contracted by the Environmental Protection Agency fill a collapsed mine shaft on the west edge of Treece, Kan., on June 24, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Workers contracted by the Environmental Protection Agency fill a collapsed mine shaft on the west edge of Treece, Kan., on June 24, 2009, in the watershed of the Tar Creek Superfund site on the Oklahoma state line.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Children in Treece, Kan., entertain themselves as evening sets in June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Bradley Blake gives his friend Trevor Lasiter a ride on his cycle to the north edge of Treece, Kan., June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Signs dot area roadways in and around Treece, Kan., indicating private property where EPA cleanup is underway. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Treece, Kan., Mayor Bill Blunk, left, and resident Brian Lasiter talk June 23, 2009, about Lasiter's yard, which is sinking into an abandoned lead and zinc mine shaft in Treece.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
An open lead and zinc mine shaft northwest of Treece, Kan., photographed June 23, 2009, has been a favorite swimming hole for area teens, even though they have been warned of the danger of contamination and risk of drowning. In the early 1980s, a youth drowned in an open mine shaft and his body resurfaced in another shaft a few hundred yards away.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Soil is constantly moved from one location to another to compensate for collapsed mine shafts in Treece, Kan. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Bedsheets dry on a clothesline near chat piles from lead and zinc mines in Treece, Kan., on June 24, 2009. Many residents are concerned about airborne contaminants but have little recourse unless the EPA provides a buyout.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
While dust is a constant problem in Treece, it also provides a palette for notes and graffiti. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
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)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Denny Johnston follows deer tracks along the ridge of a chat pile made of lead and zinc mine tailings northwest of Treece, Kan., on June 23, 2009. Johnston has lived in the area all his life and worked in the mines with his father.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Birds have built nests in the holes of a cliff in a chat pile near Treece, Kan. (June 23, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Michael Lasiter, 12, entertains himself at the end of the day in Treece, Kan., on June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Jesus Name Pentecostal Church, Treece, Kan. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
U.S. Highway 69 passes through the now-closed town of Picher, Okla., one mile south of the Kansas state line. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher The Wichita Eagle
Bradley Blake gives his friend Trevor Lasiter a ride past the Treece, Kan., City Hall on June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
A closed business on Main Street in Picher, Okla., on June 24, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Children play in a street in Treece, Kan., covered with lead and zinc mine tailings on June 23, 2009, less than 20 yards from the Kansas/Oklahoma state line. The EPA has provided a buyout for Oklahoma residents across the road beyond the graffiti-covered stop sign, while Kansas residents wait for answers.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Picher Mining Field Museum, Picher, Okla. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Michael Lasiter, left, 12, and his brother Trevor, 13, look into a mine vent shaft in their yard in Treece, Kan., on June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Abandoned home in Picher, Okla. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Trevor Lasiter, 13, points to a mine vent shaft in his yard in Treece, Kan., on June 23, 2009.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Signs on a double-wide mobile home porch gate in Treece, Kan. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Many dogs in Treece, Kan., suffer from skin problems because of airborne contaminates. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Acey Moreland, 3, makes bubbles while mom Jean Ann Moreland replaces tread on a used truck tire June 24, 2009. The Morelands own Moreland Tire, the last remaining business in Treece, Kan. They buy used truck tires, repair them and wholesale them for $65 each to truck stops in Kansas and Oklahoma.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Treece, Kan., residents purchased their groceries and gasoline half a mile south in Picher, Okla., until the EPA bought out the town, closing businesses and leaving Treece residents with no local options for necessities. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Charles Moreland, owner of Moreland Tire, has the last remaining business in Treece, Kan. He and his wife, Jean Anne, buy used truck tires, repair them and wholesale them for $65 each to truck stops in Kansas and Oklahoma. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Now closed Pastime Mini Museum in Picher, Okla. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Charles Moreland, owner of Moreland Tire, has the last remaining business in Treece, Kan. He and his wife, Jean Anne, buy used truck tires, repair them and wholesale them for $65 each to truck stops in Kansas and Oklahoma. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
A fifth-grader's sign in Picher, Okla., reveals the now-defunct community's concern with lead contamination. One mile to the north, Treece, Kan., continues to struggle with the same concerns. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Many dogs in Treece, Kan., suffer from skin problems because of airborne contaminates. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Robert Toney has most of his possessions for sale June 24, 2009, so he can afford to move from Treece, Kan., to Missouri, where his children live. Toney hopes to relocate within the next few months.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Jean Ann Moreland replaces tread on a used truck tire June 24, 2009. She and her husband, Charles Moreland, owners of Moreland Tire, have the last remaining business in Treece, Kan. They buy used truck tires, repair them and wholesale them for $65 each to truck stops in Kansas and Oklahoma.
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
Treece, Kan., gets its water supply from Cherokee County. Local groundwater is polluted from abandoned World War II lead and zinc mines in the area. (June 24, 2009)
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Mike Hutmacher/ The Wichita Eagle
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