Before the cleanup it was routinely used as filler in back yards, school yards, ball fields and playgrounds. It has been removed from public places already but remains around many homes. The backhoes chugged into Charles Turnbaugh's yard one recent morning and he was glad to see them. The Superfund law, enacted in 1980 as a response to the chemical waste contamination at Love Canal in upstate New York in the 1970s, has been plagued with problems even advocates of the measure acknowledge. As of June, the EPA reported that cleanup work had been completed at nearly half of about 1,400 polluted areas.
Advocates point out the Superfund process has been working faster and more efficiently than ever.
But in Picher, all hundreds of families know is that they'll have lead in their town when the EPA crews leave. A task force set up by Gov. Frank Keating is studying ways to sell and ship chat. It can be used safely in asphalt roads and makes a good anti-skid material, said Brian Griffin, the state's environmental secretary who dreams of helping the economy while saving the children. The Tar Creek site languished after failed efforts in the 1980s by the EPA to stop the acid mine drainage that turned the creek and its turtles orange. The EPA contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers for the cleanup.