Gallery: The Russian Town Where Startling Pollution Is a Way of Life

  • Image may contain Clothing Apparel Human and Person
    Pierpaolo Mittica
    01

    Karabash-09

    Karabash resident Tatiana explains the impossibility of breathing when the copper smelting plant is operating.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    02

    Karabash-20

    A mountain of slag divides the city in two.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    03

    Karabash-11

    Children playing in the town's abandoned buildings.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    04

    Karabash-04

    Chemical spills from the plant.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    05

    Karabash-19

    The hazardous mine was shut down in the 1980s, but was reopened again in 1998 due to the number of unemployed townspeople.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    06

    Karabash-06

    Part of a nearby forest completely burned by chemical poisoning.
  • Image may contain Mining Human Person Nature Outdoors and Soil
    Pierpaolo Mittica
    07

    Karabash-07

    The river Sak-Elga, where the smelting copper plant dumps its waste.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    08

    Karabash-15

    A woman returns home from her shift at the plant.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    09

    Karabash-05

    Chemical spills have been linked to many health problems with the local townspeople, including birth defects.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    10

    Karabash-01

    The copper plant looms in the distance while toxic waste festers not far away.
  • Image may contain Gravel Road Dirt Road Vehicle Transportation Bicycle Bike Wheel Machine Ground Tire and Spoke
    Pierpaolo Mittica
    11

    Karabash-12

    Parts of the city near the plant have been evacuated, but there are some who still live there.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    12

    Karabash-17

    A look inside the copper smelting plant.
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    Pierpaolo Mittica
    13

    Karabash-10

    An abandoned cinema in an evacuated neighborhood downwind of the plant.
  • Image may contain Nature Outdoors Land Plateau Water and Basin
    Pierpaolo Mittica
    14

    Karabash-02

    Forests, rivers and the soil all have an orange tint because of the residues from the processing of copper and iron.
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