Picher, Oklahoma
| Picher | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Location in Oklahoma
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| Basic data | |||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Oklahoma | ||
| County : | Ottawa County | ||
| Coordinates : | 36 ° 59 ′ N , 94 ° 50 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) | ||
| Residents : | 20 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 3.4 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 5.8 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) of which 5.8 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 250 m | ||
| Postal code : | 74360 | ||
| Area code : | +1 918 | ||
| FIPS : | 40-58550 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1096611 | ||
Picher is a former city in Ottawa County , Oklahoma , United States . The city is known as the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site . This is an ecological emergency area of around 100 km², designated by the US authorities, with extremely high levels of heavy metals , especially lead , caused by lead and zinc mining in the vicinity of the city that was flourishing until the 1970s . After a long dispute about the renovation of the soil, at least in the city area, the authorities decided in 2007 to relocate the city's residents and to give up the city of Picher itself.
During the heyday of the mines around the time of the Second World War , around 16,000 people lived in Picher. After the end of mining, the city became increasingly depopulated, so that in 2007 only around 1000 inhabitants were counted. In May 2008, the population was estimated at only around 800, when the village was hit by a tornado and largely destroyed. A reconstruction of the city was ruled out because of the planned evacuation. Picher is now a ghost town .
Picher is the subject of episode 2 of the second season of the documentary fiction series Future Without People ("Poison Clouds", USA 2010). The environmental damage that has occurred in the city appears there as an example of what would happen globally to their legacies after a fictitious disappearance of humanity.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Most poisonous US city removed from the map , report on kurier.at, March 7, 2012.
- ↑ Pollution brings end to Oklahoma mining town , Associated Press report on msnbc.com, as of May 12, 2008.
- ^ Matthew C. Wright: A Tainted Mining Town Dies as Residents Are Paid to Leave , Washington Post, January 18, 2007, p. A12.
- ↑ Frank Patalong: Picher, Oklahoma - The end of a small town , Spiegel-Online message from May 12, 2008
- ^ Last Residents of Picher, Oklahoma Won't Give Up the Ghost (Town). In: NBC News. April 28, 2014, accessed December 27, 2017 .