[POST]Industrial Urals: Karabash. The waste mountain

Karabash is a town in Chelyabinsk region (90 km from Chelyabinsk) with a population of 11,000.

The town gained its evil reputation after numerous publications entitled "Karabash - the most polluted town in the world", based on a UNESCO report. In fact there's no documental evidence.

These publications caused a tourist boom. Locals from Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk region come to Karabash to climb the mountain and see this impressive and frightening industrial view.

The ecological situation in the region is still pretty alarming. Those who pass through Karabash, by train for example, can witness rainbow-colored streams, especially when the snow melts away.

The name Karabash is translated from a regional Turkic language as "black head / peak"

Karabash was founded in 1822 by Grigory Zotov. It all began with the little village of Soymanovsky at the foot of the Karabash mountain.

The main industry for early dwellers was gold mining. Then a few large copper fields were found. The first copper-smelting plant began operation in 1837. It was renovated in 1910 and still works to this day.

In a report from the Russian Ministry of Environment dated 25.06.1996, the town of Karabash is described as an "ecological disaster zone"

The factory surroundings lost nearly all vegetation.

The city's giant memorial cross is one of the main attractions. Just under the cross is the Christian prayer: "Save and protect".

Karabashmed, which produces black copper and copper concentrate, is the only enterprise; Karabash is a one-factory town.

The amount of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions by the plant Karabashmed was about 7 metric tons per inhabitant.