In Pripyat, Ukraine where the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 took place, an patch of land with an 18-mile radius is fenced off with barbed wire and off limits to people. The land is still full of radioactive substances and toxic chemicals, but it isn't stopping the under-the-table dealings of bureaucrats who manage the area from wanting to profit off of it. In secret, the managers of this deadly land are sending in loggers to clear cut the trees growing on it to be made into lumber to be sold in Ukraine and Romania, and possibly all through out Europe. This lumber will be highly radioactive and full of chemicals leftover from the nuclear explosion. A team has been investigating the secret clear cuts, and warns that anyone who lives in a house build with this lumber would be at risk of a number of serious health problems. The head of the management of this site has denied any illegal logging, and many officials are saying the radioactivity left there does not pose a threat to humans. They even want to turn this site into a commercial zone with increased logging and other things, and they say it is in order to turn their country's shame into an advantage. Despite what the land managers are saying, scientists are saying that continuing to log or otherwise disturb this land is too dangerous and outweighs any benefits of doing so. It is interesting what corrupt leaders are willing to do, including harming the environment and human beings, in order to make a profit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/world/europe/chernobyls-silent-exclusion-zone-except-for-the-logging.html?src=me
Emily Alaimo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment