Officials to review cave-in threat at Tar Creek park

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) _ The state needs to determine whether a northeastern Oklahoma park built over an abandoned mine is in danger of caving in, an official with the state's abandoned mine agency says.

Friday, May 7th 2004, 9:51 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) _ The state needs to determine whether a northeastern Oklahoma park built over an abandoned mine is in danger of caving in, an official with the state's abandoned mine agency says.

The Oklahoma Abandoned Mine Land Program will likely review existing data to determine whether further study is needed to gage the cave-in threat at Reunion Park in Picher, Mike Sharp said Thursday.

``We're going to need to look at it some more,'' said Sharp, the program's assistant director. ``The (Army Corps of Engineers) took some samples there several years ago, and if they still have those, we'll look at them and see what they can tell us.''

A decision on how to proceed with the study of the Netta East Mine and its effect on the park should come within the next 30 to 60 days, Sharp said.

The mine is between 170 and 200 feet below the surface of Picher, an Ottawa County town at the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site.

The 40-square mile site was home to extensive lead and zinc mining for decades up until the early 1970s. Mining waste piled hundreds of feet high is blamed for health problems in children in the area. Cave-ins dot the landscape there and have consumed entire homes.

Area residents have raised concerns about the safety of the park, which sits in the center of Picher. Sharp said a 1967 inspection of the mine showed some support pillars had been removed and one didn't reach the mine's ceiling.

The Eagle-Picher mining company fenced off the area in 1951, but it was reopened in 1997 as a parking lot for Environmental Protection Agency equipment and more recently as a city park.

Picher Mayor Sam Freeman says he doesn't believe the area poses a threat because it was able to support that heavy EPA equipment. He says water has also filled the mine, providing additional support.

The site is home to an annual miner's reunion that is attended each year by about 2,000 former area miners.