Just another Superfund story? Not this one. Felicity Barringer writes from Picher, Oklahoma, that the Tar Creek mining site "raises questions about whether some Superfund sites have such intractable problems that no amount of money, time, and effort will make them safe." Lots of the details will sound familiar: the company denies its wastes pose a health hazard, lots of scientific studies and lots of lawsuits have failed to produce "a lasting solution," families are taking buyouts, and athletic fields sit atop waste sites. Some "good news" -- 12 percent of small children tested in 2000 had elevated blood lead levels, 2.5 times the national average but lots better than was the case three years earlier.