Toxic Town, USA

Picher, Oklahoma, was like many other towns in the United States in the early 20th Cenutry. It became a boomtown after lead and zinc were found in its ground. But by the 1970s, it ran dry, and the mining companies left, leaving Picher with a mound of pollution. It soon became a Superfund site. Residents were then offered money by the government to leave, and soon the police department and local government were disbanded. However, some residents, like John Garner, decided to stay in his hometown.

Ben Paynter is a freelance writer, whose piece on Picher, “Welcome to Armageddon, USA” is in the latest issue of Wired. He writes, “To survive in Picher, Oklahoma, you need ingenuity, optimism, and big-ass floodlights. And don’t forget your gun.”