Offers on homes should come within two weeks

Thursday, March 31st 2005, 11:34 am

By: News On 6

PICHER, Okla. (AP) _ Offers are expected within two weeks to buy the homes of families with small children in the most contaminated area of the Tar Creek Superfund site in northeastern Oklahoma.

The state has set aside 3,000,000 dollars to buy the homes and pay moving expenses of those who qualify.

Larry Roberts with the board overseeing the program says appraisal work is complete and the first set of offers to 15 families will be in the mail in the next few days.

The families that qualify have small children and live in an area contaminated by years of lead and zinc mining. Small children are most susceptible to exposure to lead and studies show even low levels can damage a child's nervous system.

Children within the 43-square-mile Tar Creek site have repeatedly tested high for dangerous levels of lead in their blood.