EPA To Buy Small Town In Kansas

Ponca City, We love you writes "The Wichita Eagle reports that Congress has approved funds to relocate the population of the southeast Kansas town of Treece, which is plagued with lead, zinc and other chemical contamination left by a century of mining. Estimates say it will cost about $3 million to $3.5 million to buy out the town, which is surrounded by huge piles of mining waste called 'chat' and dotted with uncapped shafts and cave-ins filled with brackish, polluted water. 'It's been a long, dusty, chat-covered road, but for the citizens of Treece, finally, help will be on the way,' said Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas who has been pushing for a buyout of Treece for two years. The population of Treece has dwindled to about 100 people, almost all of whom want to move but say they can't because the pollution and an ongoing EPA cleanup project makes it impossible to sell a house. The EPA has already bought out the neighboring town of Picher, Oklahoma, stripping Treece of quick access to jobs, shopping, recreation and services, including fire protection and cable TV. Both cities were once prosperous mining communities but the ore ran out and the mines were abandoned by the early 1970s. Of 16 children tested for lead levels in Treece, two had levels between 5 and 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood and one had a level of more than 10 times the threshold for lead poisoning."

Comments

Re:Have you looked at what it takes to make...

[h4rr4r]

With lithium batteries cars will be cleaner, heck copper mining for wire which is used in all cars is just about the worst. If we would just require a certain level environmental protection for all goods sold we could prevent most of this mess. No hybrid car nor solar panel required the use of these methods, someone decided to use them so he could pocket the profit.

Re:I hope this is a lesson to China.

[istartedi]

Nope. Right from the outset, they didn't learn. Not that I advocate dictatorhip; but China could have been interesting. They had absolute authority, and decided to abandon Marxist ideology in order to build the economy and keep themselves in power. They could have done anything. At that time, they had cities filled with bicycles. They could have done something really creative. Invested in advanced nuclear, Built ubiquitous highspeed rail with low-speed hubs to smaller towns, etc. They could have had some creativity. Some vision. They had little to stand in their way of imposing it.

Instead, they emulated late 19th and early 20th century industrialization, with all the known flaws. They created car-centric cities and that awful dam. What a waste.

Of course, it's also a shame that we'll never know what the crushed democracy movement would have done. They might have been just as open to corporate greed as the current government. OTOH, they might have been more open to early input from environmentalists and other groups also.

Re:Funny how this always happens

[ArsonSmith]

Seeing as these rich guys probably reside in the top 25% wage earners, they are also paying more than 85% of the tax burden. So lucky it is the rich people paying to clean it up.

Re:Funny how this always happens

[ArsonSmith]

Again all how you look at it. That chart doesn't show that 60% of those in the 80 percentile are regularly rotated in and out as fortunes are made and lost.

Re:That's easier said than done.

[BitZtream]

Many people don't deserve the right to think on their own.