The town of Picher, Oklahoma was essentially destroyed after a massive lead contamination affected the entire area.
Within the town the school was closed up, government completely disbanded, and almost all of the commercial buildings destroyed.
Gary Linderman who is the last business owner in Picher says that he isn’t ready to go, though he is used to being evacuated throughout the years because of lead contamination. He owns Old Miner’s Pharmacy in central Picher and says that he has an obligation to the people of the town to stick around.
The pharmacy is the one place left in the town where people can buy all of their necessities such as over-the-counter medications and food.
Although the federal government offered him a buyout, he refused.
The government officially declared Picher a hazardous waste site back in 1981. The city drew almost 1,000 homeowners as well as various businesses but over the years that number has been steadily decreasing.
Three years ago a tornado came through and destroyed 150 of the homes in the town, chasing away even more people and contributing to the ghost-town like feel that now haunts it. The population of Picher has gone from 1,640 in the year 2000 to just a handful of people today in 2011.