Picher, Oklahoma: America's Deadliest Ghost Town

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[@IntotheShadows]

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code SHADOWS at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: incogni.com/shadows

[@rosemariemerritt5035]

You should do a show about Centralia, Pennsylvania. It has a similar story, with the exception that there is a wildfire that burns underground - many years after the fires started.

[@RWBHere]

Thanks Simon. What's wrong with your camera? The image is gradually becoming more noisy and out of focus.

[@jamiechambers1986]

@@rosemariemerritt5035

[@thunderheadrev]

Heartbreakingly, Picher may also be the final resting place of two teenage girls. The parents of one of the girls were found shot to death in a burning house, and the bodies of the two girls were never found. It's widely believed that they ended up in a pit or mineshaft in Picher, and due to the dangerous nature of the place, it's likely they'll never be found. Unfortunately the man who was believed to have tortured and killed them served only a small portion of his prison sentence.

[@tamarinmangold1414]

Perhaps we could get a Casual Criminalist on this?

[@Terron35]

The Bible and Freeman case is just horrific. Lauria's mom is trying to pass a law to make sure that murderers have to serve a certain amount of their sentence and can't use good behavior to shorten it.

[@thunderheadrev]

@@Terron35 I think that's a fantastic idea. My heart goes out to those people for sure.

[@thunderheadrev]

@@tamarinmangold1414 It would be an interesting case to look into for sure, but definitely a rough one.

[@weirdshibainu]

What is the perpetrators name?

[@christophermitchellsr9492]

anyone who grew up within a 50 mile radius of picher knows of the history of the town an how the Quapaw Tribe an their dependents were screwed over an are still yet getting screwed over by the company's who did the mining . the towns in an around Picher have high lead in the ground an runoff from water in the mines has killed Tar creek . some of my friends i went to school with in bluejacket had family that worked in the mines . great video thanks for bringing this up many of you should look up Tar creek superfund sight it will make you very mad

[@emraldmars]

This is a very personal story for me because I have been to Picher and knew people there. I volunteered at their church in the summer of 2004. Even then we knew the town was dying, but the sense of community was overwhelming and the people that chose to be there loved their town. One of the businesses in town was Susie's Thrift Shop. Susie was a wonderful person that was very active at her church, and I think was raising her granddaughter. I think about Susie and the town of Picher often. Yes there are political lessons to be learned here, but don't forget these are real people leading real lives, and while many will just think of Picher as a toxic place long forgotten, remember that many people called this place home and care about it just as much as you care about your home.

[@shgstewart4674]

And that somehow makes it okay that pretty much everyone who mined there, and a lot of their family members got sick or died from inhaling lead/heavy metal dust and generations of kids were mentally retarded there because they were poisoned by lead/heavy metals before and after they were born?

[@johntotten4872]

In 1977 my family moved to Afton, Ok (about 25 miles south of Picher) and we lived there for a year. The water tasted foul and I would not drink it even if made into Kool Aid. I remember driving with my Dad and we stopped for gas and he said I could play on the chat piles ( up near the Picher area). My Aunt lived in Commerce even closer to Picher. Thanks for sharing Simon.

[@Aliyah_666]

Oof that's rough..we gotta care more about our planet...smdh..😡

[@AnimeShinigami13]

I'M SO GLAD YOU FINALLY COVERED THIS!!!! A long time ago I asked you to cover this tragedy in the comments!!!! What you didn't mention was that a known climate denier was on the budget committee for the EPA; Senator Imhoff (I like to call him "Senator Imhuffingglue). The accusation is that even though Picher was in his home state that he was supposed to represent, he screwed over families in that buyout by sending people he KNEW would under value the properties involved. Eventually the government paid for the sinkholes, but not the lead. Imhoff kept categorically denying the hazard. Some of these families lost priceless family heirlooms or had to leave behind family homes built by hand and inhabited for MULTIPLE generations. They weren't given anywhere near enough money to start again and many of them now had disabled children in desperate need of behavioral health care.

[@fathertimegaming17]

Imhoff didn't elect himself.

[@ryansauchuk7290]

His constitutiants voted him back in so they must have liked his policies

[@itsoundzgood]

I hated Imhoff. He was horrible. I never voted for him here in OK

[@gizmo4816]

@@ryansauchuk7290 He basically IGNORED extreme North East Oklahoma. The entire population of Miami, Picher, Quapaw, Wyandotte, Fairland, Commerce, Peoria, North Miami, Cardin, Afton, Narcissa, Dotyville, Grove, Jay, Bernice, Colcord, Kansas, Oaks, West Siloam Springs, Brush Creek, Bull Hollow, Butler, Cayuga, Cleora, Cloud Creek, Copeland, Deer Lick, Dennis, Dodge, Dripping Springs, Drowning Creek, Flint Creek, Indianola, Kenwood, Leach, New Eucha, Oak Hill-Piney, Old Eucha, Rocky Ford, Sycamore, Tagg Flats, Twin Oaks, White Water, Zena, Chloeta, Eucha, Pryor Creek, Adair, Chouteau, Disney, Grand Lake Towne, Hoot Owl, Langley, Locust Grove, Pensacola, Salina, Spavinaw, Sportsmen Acres, Strang, Ballou, Cedar Crest, Iron Post, Kenwood, Little Rock, Mazie, Murphy, Pin Oak Acres, Pump Back, Rose, Sams Corner, Snake Creek, Sportmans Shores, Sportsmen Acres Community, and Wickliffe COMBINED amounts to less than 120,000 people (that's Ottawa, Mays, Craig, and Delaware counties). That's barely the population of Broken Arrow, much less Tulsa or Oklahoma city, so why should he even care? Besides, people here have voted Republican for GENERATIONS because the Democrats can't be bothered to even show up, much less try to actually, you know, REPRESENT. I mean, yeah, ok, sure, they could have voted for someone else, but WHO CARES?! The Republicans don't, but they at least kinda pay lip service. The Democrats can't even be bothered to do that! The Democrats don't understand why people in rural areas vote Republican. It's because the Democrats DON'T EVEN SHOW UP! Heck, when McCaskill was Senator for Missouri for 12 years, she visited Southwest Missouri 3 times (I think???). Josh Hawley (whom I despise) has visited that many times in just 6 years. (Just to be clear, I live in Joplin Mo, but I have family and friends in Quapaw, which is like 45 minutes from me.) So yeah, sure, tell us we just have to vote for someone else. Like it actually MATTERS when you live in BFE.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

@@itsoundzgood insufferable! a whole book gaslighting people about climate change. and we're supposed to trust him with science because he's a senator? fuck no.

[@gagepickering3684]

My grandpa was born and grew up in Picher. I live only like 10 minutes away from Picher. Very weird to see Whistle boy cover a town I'm so familiar with and have been to so many times in my life

[@itsthatoneguy2921]

🍪

[@bear1245]

Looks a right dump

[@gagepickering3684]

@@bear1245 You be right

[@ResDogsMrPink]

It's crazy how much this wasn't in the news. I've lived in oklahoma my entire life and only found out about this last year.

[@rogerroger5171]

I also grew up near that area. In the 70's the high school football coaches would run the players up and down those chat hills.

[@ChezWaldo]

I used to play peewee football there in the early 2000s just before the town was shut down pretty much. I even remember when the town was removed from the schedule because it was no longer a town. Every time i left i usually felt really sick for a few days. Always hated playing there

[@elizaschane4104]

Excellent content. I've watched almost all of your videos! Great work, Simon!!!

[@shanbannan17]

me to i get excited when the Light reflects of Simons head

[@patrickaycock3655]

ALL his videos? On ALL his channels?

[@elizaschane4104]

@@patrickaycock3655 YES! I love his content! My favorite channel is the Casual Criminalist!

[@patrickaycock3655]

@@elizaschane4104 *salute*

[@justindwight5457]

My father worked for National Zinc in Bartlesville, OK when I was a kid. It’s also a superfund site. They processed the zinc and lead via electrolysis on to copper plates. My dad always washed his clothes separately from ours. I can’t imagine how many children were exposed all around NE Oklahoma. These processing facilities were everywhere.

[@pontifexdues4526]

I moved to nearby Miami in 2007. I remember sitting on our back porch watching that tornado in the distance, i had friends that lived in picher. I've driven through that area on a few occasions since the town was fully abandoned and it is a spooky place to be.

[@maxtalbert8519]

I work in langley, oklahoma, drive over there all the time Around the area to do hvac jobs, it is eerie

[@patrickaycock3655]

You watched a tornado in oklahoma.... from your porch... in florida???

[@crampusmaximus8849]

​@@patrickaycock3655Miami, Oklahoma. You could have just looked it up yourself. Would have taken less than 5 seconds more than likely. You know more than one place can have the same name, right? The embarrassment of watching arrogance and ignorance meet.

[@patrickaycock3655]

@@crampusmaximus8849 lmao you forgot that television exists so its quite possible for them to watch a tornado in OK while in florida. And how childish you must look coming in here as a keyboard warrior with a condescending attitude. You made an assumption that i was unaware that more than one place can share a name. Tell you what come out to egypt and say that stuff to my face. Ill let you google it.

[@pontifexdues4526]

@@patrickaycock3655 No, this is Miami (My-Am-Uh) Oklahoma just a few miles down the road from Picher OK. It's also quite common to watch tornadoes from one's porch in Oklahoma.

[@taylorshanks692]

I ran a track meet in Pitcher Oklahoma when I was in the 7th grade! You can see the field at 11:57 in the video. The chat piles around town were huge. The town was abandoned only a few years afterwards.

[@ZombieEater73]

If you're looking for a similar topic, Simon & co., might I suggest Times Beach, Missouri? Not so much a story of negligence as it is incompetence, and it's only a short two and a half to 3-hour drive from Picher

[@johnsyler8580]

Yes. Interesting story. I remember passing it on I44 when I moved to Missouri.

[@katiescarlett2539]

Native Oklahoman. I’m glad to see this place covered, and I really appreciate how you handled talking about the tornado and didn’t hype it.

[@Kaltagstar96]

God, imagine having all that shit happen to you, the lead poisoning and the increased risks of cancer; then, when you think it just can't get any worse, a Tornado rocks up!

[@michaelkeller5927]

Too much lead intake also leads to brain problems like voting republican.

[@debbiejonesakagrannypanda3866]

Your research team missed the part about the Quapaw Tribe not wanting their land mined & government taking "stewardship" of the land for members of the tribe who had been committed "for their own good." That is how the mining started.

[@brianz7861]

America belongs to the White man, sorry… not sorry!

[@poonoi1968]

When enough money is to be made there is no limits to what will be done. Greed is just too tempting, too addictive. Only nature itself can and will end it. It will balance out somehow given enough time. Life will heal. I think those people you speak of that was robbed of their homes and lives would have liked that. Somehow wouldn't be surprised if they already knew..

[@jejbsh2191]

Before it was the Quapaw tribes land it was someone else's that the Quapaw took for their own use that's how the world works

[@SamuelGeist]

@@jejbsh2191 ...and yet it was the private corporations and government that absolutely f'd up the land for all future generations. Also "that's how the world works"? Really? C'mon. We can recognise that, yes, that's how things have tended to be without just fatalistically shrugging and accepting that it has to be that way.

[@DebTheDevastator]

Yeah, and once it was no longer useful, they gave it back and pretty much wiped their hands of it.

[@ToniAllen]

You should check out the band Chat Pile. I'm in OKC, and they're a local grunge/metal band named after the chat piles of Picher, OK. "Why?" is a great place to start.

[@andrewlegrand4416]

God's country is pretty great.

[@bigal66724]

For those who care and don't want to just talk about how bad companies are. I grew up just north of pitcher. By the time people knew how bad the contamination was a lot of the companies that were at fault no longer existed. There was a class actuon lawsuit against the companies that were still atound. By the time the tornado hit pitcher it was already mostly empty of residents. We all played on the chat piles for years and my hometown used to buy chat from there for our roads. Simon's writers do a good job of research but that is not the entire story. And finally pitcher is not a "eerie" place as people say. Its just like every small town in that part of the country, everyone left.

[@Austintwo3]

i work with the Quapaws there, the stories ive heard are terrible

[@Aliyah_666]

I wouldn't go using heavy metal contaminated material for a road...😬

[@NotimeforThis-fd4ye]

But like- the companies were still at fault? Doesn’t matter if they had been dissolved by then, they were still the fault. Good grief.

[@bigal66724]

@NotimeforThis-fd4ye yes the companies were at fault. The lawsuit agreed to that as well. But all of this happened in a time before anyone knew the actual risks. It doesn't excuse what happened but it's also not just evil companies. There was a lot more to it.

[@55chevy327]

@@NotimeforThis-fd4ye how do you hold something that doesn’t exist responsible?

[@kevintrjohnson]

My great-grandfather worked in the Picher mines. He and his children (my grandmother being his oldest) moved around a bit in that region, sometimes living in Treece, Kansas, another mining ghost town that's been completely leveled, leaving only foundations, overgrown streets, and chat piles. Nobody talks much about the scourge of strip pit mining that started after the underground zinc mining was halted. Big Brutus, one of the largest steam shovels ever built, still stands in a field outside a different mining town in Kansas (West Mineral). I have to assume much of the zinc and lead mined there went to the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant outside Parsons, where I lived until 8th grade. The area around Picher was once reservarion territory until we, as was our way, decided to take it back once it proved valuable (much like the oil fields, but presumably with less murder). The tribes have since reclaimed thr land and are working to restore it.

[@TheSh4dowgale]

Just one of many examples that corporations don't give a shit about people. All they care about are profits. People are just expendable and can be replaced.

[@austinstille12]

All the people that worked in the mines are just as responsible. They contributed to the problem …

[@GrievousReborn]

It's why I hate companies like Disney who bend over backwards to appease China telling me what is socially acceptable or not

[@Aliyah_666]

​@@austinstille12So because they needed to exist and survive they are responsible in some capacity. Not like our government endorsed all this or some big companies saw dollar signs...no no, it's CLEARLY the workers.

[@venommisery24]

I was in Picher for the second time slightly over a month ago, it’s only an hour and a half away. Great to see Whistle boy talking about it

[@Daytongreek13]

Had to do a double take on the location before I started watching because Picher is 30 minutes out from where I live

[@dominicromanazzi8808]

I drove through Pitcher/Treece for the first time about 3 years ago and it shocked me that nobody had really addressed it. There was the odd video but nothing from fact boi and no signs really. It’s cool to see it getting recognition especially since it’s so recent it’s an exceptionally jarring place

[@rosemariemerritt5035]

@IntotheShadows, you should do a story about Centralia, Pennsylvania. It has a similar story as this one, except that there is a wildfireburning underground of the town - decades after the fire first started.

[@ronpatava]

Thanks for the awesome content 😊

[@FUL0H8]

I’m so glad you’re talking about this.

[@juliav.mcclelland2415]

Life After People covers this story in chilling perfection: "All that's left is poison that can't be removed... and a land that can't be fixed."

[@sharlharmakhis280]

I first heard of Picher when I watched that episode of Life After People. Heavy stuff.

[@Dr.RichardBanks]

Sitting here with pitcher down the road 😅

[@samaraclark]

I remember growing up in the late 80s and all throughout the 90s when I go down to Oklahoma for 4th of July or just to be with family members down there we went through picher several times and that was the only place we were not ever allowed to get out of the car when my family would go through. It is truly sad what happened to that town

[@zarasbazaar]

For all the people who say "We don't need regulations. The companies will regulate themselves."

[@mattseman5682]

Mining also damaged the area around the town of Butte, Montana. Guess who won't let them clean up any further? The regulations set forth by the EPA.

[@HyBr1dRaNg3r]

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Rmbr THAT quote…

[@yolobathsalts]

Tell me why a lot of *accidental* spills and contaminations can't be cleaned up? Oh, that's right. *regulations*. Why, even when regulations is there still so much pollution in the air and water nothing we do will make any impact to clean it up, even in THREE lifetimes? Businesses are already regulated to death and the economy reflects that. You want your groceries to cost even more?

[@rickrudd]

Sure. But we really don't need the FAA holding up Space X.

[@Baermey]

​@mattseman5682 , as Montanan, that is factually incorrect. Butte and anaconda have been part of a superfund site since the 1980's. Not to mention the treatment plant, funded and built by the EPA. The Montanan constitution guarantees a clean environment, and sure as shit we take that seriously. Theres a reason the Tintina mine is hotly debated and protested by pretty much everyone outside of WSS

[@joaniecummings3465]

Thanks to Simon and his team

[@BowEchoMedia]

Speaking of Oklahoma, I think a couple of good episodes would be Moore’s EF5 history and the El Reno beast of a tornado that took the lives of my friends.

[@carpecanem611]

Just imagine all the poisonous dust that tornado scattered.

[@tamarinmangold1414]

💯😱😰

[@debbiegarrett2035]

This is my home town. I’m 68 years old. I lived, graduated high school (Go Gorillas), married, raised 2 of the best kids ever, and worked at the high school until they closed it down. The people who lived there were a united community, and we still are. There is a Christmas parade still, we have Picher reunions and our hearts are forever there. The teachers, principals and other staff that were from surrounding towns became part of us. Once you were embarrassed by and embarrassed our children and people of my town you were part of us. I will never regret being from Picher. It was a great life. My heart aches when I dwell on the past and the great memories I have growing up there. To all the Picher people, those who lived and worked there my prayers are with you. Love to you and I hope you are doing well. Once a Gorilla always a Gorilla! Picher, Oklahoma 74360 and Cardin, Oklahoma 74335, gone but not forgotten!

[@itsthatoneguy2921]

2:38 are we talking about Cody Rhodes from the WWE LMFAO

[@BigChucka419]

Undesirable became Undeniable

[@robking6975]

I thought we were talking Stardust?

[@MrDestro0000]

Nicely done, sir, nicely done.

[@drewknoles3258]

I have been there a couple of times. I have some really good photos of the place. It's a very eerie place.

[@harrisonbergeron9764]

Not exactly the same but Times Beach, Missouri is another abandoned town in the Midwest part of the US this one due to Dioxin.

[@Stable_Genius]

I grew up in Owasso. It's dope to see so many fellow Okies in the comment section.

[@thepax2621]

And people want companies to "regulate themselves" 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@se7enity648]

‘Sink Holes” are caused by natural earth movement, but if they are caused by mining they are called “Crown Holes”

[@markherd3116]

Does anyone else find that open door in the background, distracting, somehow sinister. I've seen enough horror movies to know this frame of image is a foreshadowing of something horrible about to happen. :)

[@patchwerks7560]

Would love to see more videos on superfund sites on this channels or one your 50 other ones!

[@TrineDaely]

Would love to stories on the Tulsa massacre, on Rosewood, FL, Cancer Alley, and Lake Lanier.

[@highlandoutsider]

Ah, so this is what my realtor meant by "picheresque views" 🤦😅

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

Google Maps shows the scale of the chat piles. Most of which are multiple times larger than the high school track.

[@chrissyemert8781]

I drove through Pitcher.... It's bizarre and even more so that a busy highway runs through it.

[@GlitterHeather]

I visited the town in the late 90s. We were actually there to band endangered bank swallows - Picher was the home of the only population of bank swallows in Oklahoma, ironically due to the chat piles the swallows made their homes in. We knew it was contaminated, but I had no idea just *how* contaminated it was at the time. I was just a kid, mind you. I recall eating at some kind of restaurant - I think it was a diner there. The town was already falling apart, but I don't think it had been declared a Superfund site at that time.

[@melalbertson3191]

Lived in the town just outside there less than 10 years ago. Kids were still riding fourwheelers on the piles, tractors still working the fields all around then. For a few years at least if you went driving there black SUVs would follow you. If you pulled over they would stop as well and just wait. Its kind of spooky, but no different from any abandoned town. There are quite a few in that part of the country.

[@_KaiTheGamer_]

Concerningly, Picher sounds scarily similar to my Missouri hometown of Granby until very recently. Luckily, Granby has turned itself around and actually cleaned up significantly (hell, for a southwest Missouri town of barely over 2000, it's actually kinda vibrant), but when my parents were kids, the town shared a lot of concerning features of Picher. My dad actually remembered playing on the chat piles as a kid. Again, thankfully they took cleanup processes very seriously and began work de-leading everything in the 90s, but still. Thete are mineshafts *everywhere* if you know where to look, and my grandparent's house actually has a very close-to-the-surface mineshaft in their side-yard thats shockingly not filled in yet thanks to an old bedframe after it was uncovered sometime in the past seven years or so.

[@Overworkedandunderpaid]

Hey Simon, the polo look suits you. Do it more often.

[@Blackjack09721]

Lol, I just had to go there today. This coming up in my algorithm is absolutely weird.....I had to meet the Quapaw tribe and go through the Chat fields, too.

[@Oumeic]

If you want to talk about the death of a town….look into Pueblo, Colorado. From the failure of the railroad and later the airport industrial park to the superfund activities involving the steel mill and the Rockwool plant. Current status of the town is completely failing as it is a victim of outrageous rent and housing rates due to proximity to Colorado Springs economy reaching outward all meanwhile employment rate falling through the floor with all business investments completely failing. Crooked community leadership only catering to and seeking to be rich and powerful. Town infrastructure is failing and utility costs rate among the highest in the country. If you wish to do a story on the fall of a once amazing city and document this continuing fall you may wish to see our plight here in Pueblo, Colorado. The great flood was only the beginning.

[@Harris83]

Getting closer to that Mr Clean look... good on ya!

[@adammitchell3462]

This is just another monument of my nations absolute glory,faaar better than anything you could hope for whistle boi!

[@duerremueller3609]

1:07 skips ad

[@bendershome4discountorphan859]

In the history of the world corporations have never "done the right thing"

[@MichaelEilers]

Seems like you should have named and shamed the corporations involved…

[@jellyfishfields5657]

Most, if not all, will have dissolved. No point mentioning non existent companies

[@TrineDaely]

@@jellyfishfields5657Possible the same CEOs and people from board of directors are with other companies and carrying on their greedy ways.

[@pcb-chris1015]

I've been sledding on the chat piles in Pitcher. Strange and dangerous place to go exploring for sure.

[@alex4863]

I been there, it was almost the reality of where my grandparents moved too after the 08 crash in Salina Oklahoma, the town had a population of 3,000. I’ve never seen a place so low and secluded. It’s truly a Twilight Zone.

[@itsoundzgood]

I went there in 2016 to see the area and I was blown away at how post apocalyptic it looked there.

[@Jiuhuashan]

You could do a similar programme about Gilman Colorado, another mining town that suffered a similar fate.

[@daciajcksn]

I live in Flint and we had 1000s of kids who tested positive for lead because our city council decided to use the Flint River as a drinking source. The same river that GM had their production plants on. The company had dumped their excess waste into the river for years in the early 20th century. This could be a topic for this channel maybe?? Sadly today you can see the kids in school and many struggle. And our school system just isn't equipped for these kids today and the extra attention they needed. And entire generation of kids with mental delays and various other problems associated with lead poisoning.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Since 2015, former residents have held Christmas parades in Picher.

[@dans2971]

Fun Fact: Apocalypse has never meant ‘the end of the world’. It’s Ancient Greek and it means ‘unveiling’.

[@nadatellin4866]

they still do a christmas parade in pitcher every year too

[@Austintwo3]

i do work in Picher with the Quapaw Nation..... the stories ive heard...

[@WenderPottery]

This town has more problems with chat than I do streaming

[@bigsauce6187]

I live right next to picher and work for the Quapaw tribe, weird to see you cover it😂

[@brasscog8890]

That Norseman statue is in Miami OK. Lived there for about 8 years from 2014. The whole of Ottawa county is still dealing with the lead. People used the Chat for years for to put under foundations, driveways and roads. It is way worse there than the story indicates. Look up the L.E.A.D. agency Miami, OK. for the broader picture.

[@Smytjf11]

Oh no. Have I caught up with Simon's discography?

[@thatonedude5237]

Welcome to America. The sad part is that this sort of negligence is far from isolated.

[@bstorm4413]

The saddest part of this historic story is - this behavior continues by companies and goes on and on. Look at 3M, DuPont and the disasters they have caused and continue to cause. Likewise, the untold number of coal and other companies that destroy the environment with little to no responsibility or accountability. Our government which hastens to do the will of these companies is disgusting.

[@donaldnelson5699]

Some place I have been to. I went there and took a lot of photos in the early 2010’s unfortunately the memory card was lost over time . I went back a few years ago and the chat piles were still there but a lot of what I had the places where I had taken photos had been demolished.

[@kevinsayes]

Simon’s gotta grow that thing back

[@kaynek83]

Hey Simon, there is another town that suffered the same fate, Wittenoom Western Australia, hopefully you can do a video on that town thanks.

[@boristhedespot3473]

This is a perfect example of the need for strict regulations . somethin americans dont get in their persuit of happiness. Happy Now

[@DebTheDevastator]

It's also a good example of the US government taking promised lands from Natives People, and once they were done with it, giving it back unusable, destroyed, and unsafe.

[@duncancurtis5108]

Wittenoom Australia needs a slot. Officially it doesn't exist.

[@shgstewart4674]

There's a great documentary about Picher called "Men and Dust."

[@StigmaX]

Tom Cruise knows where Shelly Miscavige is

[@joaniecummings3465]

Lol I get the reference.

[@itsthatoneguy2921]

🍪 no one really cares

[@Nat929]

Wouldn't be surprised, Cruise is an absolute moron and nuts.

[@SinisterMD]

Grew up not far from there. Knew the family that did a lot of work with the chat piles left over from all of the mining.

[@phyrhfbr1819]

I live very close to a sugar plant (sugar beets) and they have the piles of processed waste stacked up in a little white mountain in the open air... supposedly its far enough away but it gets stupid windy here and you can smell the stench from town... why is there so many asthma cases here 🤔

[@yarg619]

Played there sense I, was little swam in mine pits, I will be 50 soon and I'm one of the few people I, guess who never had any medical issues. I'm also a veteran and have my blood tested every year, still a clean bill of health.

[@michaelkeller5927]

Lol the super polluted and contaminated area from mining in Red Dead Redemption 2 is called "Pincher Creek"

[@SamuelGeist]

Imagine naming your town after the owner of a company in an act of cringing sycophancy. "Notice us, business daddy." Ugh.

[@YashaKoman]

Drove through Pitcher yesterday and now 12 hrs later KZbin is recommending me this video 🤔

[@ajzephyros7454]

I wish i could visualize those heights you mention but i have aphantasia or lack of a mind’s eye.

[@beagleissleeping5359]

Here's hoping they gave them a better buyout deal than the one given to the residents of Centralia, PA.....

[@MoonFairy929]

That shirt (ad read) looks like it was reconstructed after a bout with a paper shredder 😂

[@murrayscott9546]

Trail (B.C. , Canada) was , during WW 2 designated a vital industrial town due to its production of lead. No labour disruptions allowed. Smelter still in operation. Local hockey team ? " Smoke-eaters " !

[@murrayscott9546]

Trail still thrives btw. Guess we Canadians diddit right, somehow.

[@Wargasmo]

Throwing their waste all over the place until they kill themselves? This lines up with my experience of living in Oklahoma.

[@khironkinney1667]

Wow is this one of The Inspirations for Tromaville

[@Mountlougallops]

I like your new wardrobe Simon.

[@RobertL36]

Wish it would have mentioned senator "snowball" Jim Inhofe was part of the disagreement with...vested interests.

[@duckydarrick7460]

Simon I just want you to know that I am trying magic spoon for the 1st time Because I saw it On the shelf department store and I remembered how good you said it was. It's definitely every bit as good as you said it was. It's more expensive than normal cereal but I'm diabetic so I'm not supposed to have normal cereal. Now cereal can be back on the menu for me every now and then. (On a side note I'm using unsweetened almond milk to minimize the carb content even more)

[@USJTAC]

***CORRECTION*** In 2006, much of the city was deemed undermined and subject to collapse. The tornado was in May 2008 - thus resulting in much of the population leaving the town.

[@Idrinklight44]

Missouri has lead mining areas that make this look tiny

[@jaredbills72]

Makes me concerned about the southeast region. I grew up in wilburton oklahoma and there are still many old coal mines around there that are vacant and do collapse from time to time.

[@Far-Right_Celt]

Not going to lie, regardless of the hazards.. the fact nobody lives there makes the place sound dreamy.

[@techsavvy8522]

Hey I'm from Pitcher! It's still kinda there, but but really lol

[@lucycarin]

I only knew her social media name as turtle gal but she was dyin from cancer from living there😢

[@Nerathul1]

For a moment I thought it might be that town that's insanely contaminated with Abestos.