# Tri-State district

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The **Tri-State district** was a historic [lead](/source/Lead)-[zinc](/source/Zinc) [mining district](/source/Mining_district_(North_America)) located in present-day southwest [Missouri](/source/Missouri), southeast [Kansas](/source/Kansas) and northeast [Oklahoma](/source/Oklahoma). The district produced lead and zinc for over 100 years. Production began in the 1850s and 1860s in the [Joplin](/source/Joplin,_Missouri) - [Granby](/source/Granby,_Missouri) area of [Jasper](/source/Jasper_County,_Missouri) and [Newton](/source/Newton_County,_Missouri) counties of southwest Missouri. Production was particularly high during the World War I era and continued after World War II, but with declining activity. As jobs left the area, the communities declined in population.

The [Picher, Oklahoma](/source/Picher,_Oklahoma) mines were finally closed in 1967, and the "Swalley" mine near [Baxter Springs, Kansas](/source/Baxter_Springs,_Kansas) in 1970.[1][2][3][4] Because of extensive toxic environmental wastes produced from these lead and zinc deposits, known as [chat](/source/Chat_(mining)), large areas have been rendered uninhabitable and damage has been caused to air, land and water quality. In some areas, such as [Picher, Oklahoma](/source/Picher,_Oklahoma), the federal government bought out the last inhabitants and the town was disincorporated in 2013.

Three large sites in this district have been classified by the [Environmental Protection Agency](/source/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency) as mining-related [Superfund](/source/Superfund) sites: the [Tar Creek Superfund site](/source/Tar_Creek_Superfund_site) in northeast Oklahoma; the Jasper County and Newton County sites in southwest Missouri; and the Cherokee County site in southeast Kansas.[5] In 2019 EPA announced a plan for continued funding of $16 million annually for cleanup at Tar Creek.

## See also

- [List of Superfund sites in the United States](/source/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_the_United_States)

## References

1. Brockie, Douglas C., et al., *The Geology and Ore Deposits of the Tri-State District of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma,* in Ridge, John D., *Ore Deposits of the United States, 1933-1967;* Vol 1, Ch. 20, pp. 400 - 430, 1968, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

1. ["TRI-STATE LEAD AND ZINC DISTRICT"](http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/T/TR014.html). Oklahoma Historical Society. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150202131909/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/T/TR014.html) 2015-02-02 at the Wayback Machine.

1. ["Kansas Geological Survey, Public Information Circular (PIC) 17"](http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic17/pic17_2.html). Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. ["Swalley Mine, Baxter Springs, Picher Field, Cherokee County, Kansas, USA"](https://www.mindat.org/loc-23602.html). *Minedat.org*. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. ["Tri-State mining district superfund site"](http://www.sagchip.org/planning/NRDR/pdf/TriStateMining.pdf). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180912204717/http://www.sagchip.org/planning/NRDR/pdf/TriStateMining.pdf) 2018-09-12 at the Wayback Machine.

## External links

- [Lead and Zinc Mining in Kansas](http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic17/pic17_1.html), Kansas Geological Survey
- [1936 Cherokee County Map](https://www.ksdot.org/Assets/wwwksdotorg/bureaus/burTransPlan/maps/PastPublishedCounty/Cherokee1936.PDF), Kansas
- [Ottawa County Map](http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/maps/county/map_co_58-ottawa.pdf), Oklahoma

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tri-State district](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_district) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_district?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.