I grew up in Joplin, MO which is part of this mining area. The remnants of that industry have left this region highly polluted. Much of the soil in these towns is contaminated and some places like Pitcher, OK have been declared superfund sites. Pitcher is a ghost town now, completely abandoned.

The tailings from the mining operations are referred to as “chat” and were deposited into massive piles of small rock. We would play in these “chat piles” as a kid. Probably exposing ourselves to heavy amounts of lead and zinc dust.

The mines themselves were sometimes filled with water which became swimming holes.

Joplin has a decent sized population (50k) so much remediation has happend over the decades. Our lawn and many others in town were stripped down several inches and replaced. The chat piles mysteriously disappeared one year and the swimming holes have been filled.

Myself and my father have always complained of having memory issues. It could be genetic but I’m convinced it’s lead poisoning.