02ESSAYTLEADBACKYARD
"I'd be lost without these here," said Elwood "Knot" Ragsdale, 78, lifetime resident of Park Hills, Missouri, referring to the chat dumps that litter the Old Lead Belt. The National chat pile, towering to a height of 250 feet in Park Hills, backs up to his backyard. "I played on the chat dump growing up. My kids and grand-kids played on them just like kids play in the park," said Ragsdale, who leads his grand-daughter up the dump for a climb. However, now that some children in Park Hills have elevated lead levels, Ragsdale, similar to other residents in the Old Lead Belt, says he is beginning to wonder if the piles could pose some possible health danger.