Editing Treece, Kansas (section)

== Contamination ==
Treece, Kansas was deemed as uninhabitable and contaminated by the Environmental Protection Agency because of the large [[Chat (mining)|chat]] piles and leftover mine [[tailings]] that still exist in the abandoned town today. Wes Enzinna, a writer for The New York Times, visited Treece in 2010 and interviewed some of the remaining residents. They claimed that years before Treece was ruled contaminated by the [[Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]], children who swam in the local [[Tar Creek Superfund site]] would end up with chemical burns (superficially resembling [[sunburn]]) all over their bodies.<ref name="NYTLead" />

The reason that the chat piles and mine tailings are so dangerous is because of the high amount of lead that is still left in the rock. While short-term exposure to lead will not necessarily harm a person, if one is exposed for long periods of time, which the people living in Treece were, it can result in [[high blood pressure]], [[heart disease]], [[kidney disease]], and reduced fertility.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-09 |title=Lead: Health Problems Caused by Lead {{!}} NIOSH {{!}} CDC |url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/health.html |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=www.cdc.gov |language=en-us}}</ref> No studies have been done to determine the effects that the toxic environment left on the health of former residents of Treece, Kansas.

Some of the chat piles in Treece are up to {{cvt|200|ft|m}} tall and the dust that is blown off from these piles “still contains enough metal to make blood-lead levels among young children here three times higher than the national average”.<ref name="NYTLead" /> The residents of Treece had been dealing and living with dangerous amounts of toxic waste in their backyards for 50–60 years before anything was done to clean up the area. 

When the mining companies stopped mining, they shut off the water pumps that kept the mines from flooding. When the floodwater traveled through the mining tunnels, it picked up all the leftover traces of minerals that were left behind. The water then found its way into the local Tar Creek and other streams, contaminating the water and ruining the habitat of the local wildlife.<ref name="NYTLead" /> 

It is important to add that Tar Creek runs through Treece and many other towns in the area that faced the same issues as Treece.