TREECE, Kan. (AP) Residents of a former mining town in southeast Kansas said an official farewell to the lead-contaminated town.
A ceremony on Thursday marked the official end of a buyout for Treece, which has been mostly empty for the last two years.
Treece is officially off the map, after being disincorporated by the state Legislature earlier this year.
The Environmental Protection Agency allocated $3.5 million in 2009 to buy out residents after the town was found to be unsafe because of the tons of remains from decades of lead and zinc mining.
Treece and nearby Picher, Okla., produced much of the lead that was used for bullets in two world wars.
The Wichita Eagle reports once the cleanup is done, the land will be used for hunting and grazing.
