Unfortunately, Tar Creek was added to the National Priorities list in 1983 making it officially a Superfund site ("Tar Creek," 2014.) It contains 40 square miles of waistline. It is referred to as the “Superfund Site” because Congress donated an enormous sum of money to support it. At the same time, oil and mining companies were taxed in order to support this fund. The fund was established in the early 80’s to support sites which have experienced environmental disaster.
According to the documentary, Tar Creek is the “worst environmental disaster” (Myers, 2010). It was sad to witness how the town started to disappear when the mining industry arrived. The path of contaminated orange water begins in Kansas, it continues to run through the mining …show more content…
At one point in time, it was the largest lead mining location found in the world. Their land was taken from them to create the town of Picher. Mining companies insisted in obtaining 40 acres leases signed by Indian Tribes because they just wanted to continue to mine more and more. Unfortunately for the Quapaw Tribe, if they did not agree to sign the leases, then the mining companies sent them to Congress in order to declare individuals incompetent. Personally, I consider this to be unfair for The Quapaw Tribe because no one should be forced to do something they do not want to do. Most of the “incompetent” Indians had mines in their property and had a quarter of Indian blood or more; I do not consider this to be merely a coincidence because those who were declared the opposite did not own any mine properties. These properties held by the “incompetent” Indians were managed by the Secretary of Interior. Even though, some members of The Quapaw Tribe sued for their rights, unfortunately the Supreme Court did not rule in their favor. Apparently, their justification was the Department of Interior acted in the best interest for the Indians, but everyone has always questioned their …show more content…
Currently, its residents are still facing many issues; they are facing even more obstacles than the past. The main conflict for Tar Creek is water because it has highly polluted. In 1978, it started to receive the attention it needed. Eventually, it was discovered some homeowners were experiencing water under their homes. The Environmental Protection Agency was not willing to resolve issues because the cost was extremely high. In Tar Creek, 1900 homes needed support. The average cost to fix all the issues was $70,000 dollars per residence. Honestly, it does not make sense how “The United States is one of the most powerful countries, but Tar Creek is referred to as a third country problem (Myers,
According to the documentary, Tar Creek is the “worst environmental disaster” (Myers, 2010). It was sad to witness how the town started to disappear when the mining industry arrived. The path of contaminated orange water begins in Kansas, it continues to run through the mining …show more content…
At one point in time, it was the largest lead mining location found in the world. Their land was taken from them to create the town of Picher. Mining companies insisted in obtaining 40 acres leases signed by Indian Tribes because they just wanted to continue to mine more and more. Unfortunately for the Quapaw Tribe, if they did not agree to sign the leases, then the mining companies sent them to Congress in order to declare individuals incompetent. Personally, I consider this to be unfair for The Quapaw Tribe because no one should be forced to do something they do not want to do. Most of the “incompetent” Indians had mines in their property and had a quarter of Indian blood or more; I do not consider this to be merely a coincidence because those who were declared the opposite did not own any mine properties. These properties held by the “incompetent” Indians were managed by the Secretary of Interior. Even though, some members of The Quapaw Tribe sued for their rights, unfortunately the Supreme Court did not rule in their favor. Apparently, their justification was the Department of Interior acted in the best interest for the Indians, but everyone has always questioned their …show more content…
Currently, its residents are still facing many issues; they are facing even more obstacles than the past. The main conflict for Tar Creek is water because it has highly polluted. In 1978, it started to receive the attention it needed. Eventually, it was discovered some homeowners were experiencing water under their homes. The Environmental Protection Agency was not willing to resolve issues because the cost was extremely high. In Tar Creek, 1900 homes needed support. The average cost to fix all the issues was $70,000 dollars per residence. Honestly, it does not make sense how “The United States is one of the most powerful countries, but Tar Creek is referred to as a third country problem (Myers,