Picher: environmental health crisis was caused by years of unrestricted excavation and mining waste accumulation.
São Paulo - "If the world ended today, it would look like this town." This is how the photojournalist Seph Lawless describes the most toxic place in the United States, the city of Picher, Oklahoma.
The city prospered as never in the first half of the 20th century as part of the country's mining belt. Their land out most of the lead that fueled the American artillery during the two world wars, and zinc enough to galvanize the construction of the American suburbs.
When business petered out in 1970, the mining companies have moved there. In the following years, Picher plunged into economic decline, which was accompanied by an environmental health crisis caused by years of unrestricted excavation and mining waste accumulation.
But it was only in 2006 that the US Environmental Protection Agency ordered the evacuation of the remaining residents. Three years later, the local administration has been completely dissolved. Currently, Picher is a ghost town with post-apocalyptic scenario.
"A constant reminder of what happens when humanity does not respect nature and the environment," says Lawless, who has a special passion for photographing abandoned places and urban decay. Their goal is clear: to show the world hidden scenarios and forgotten anyone to see.
In the case of Picher, he was able to access restricted areas of the city and capture absolutely heartbreaking images. Your photos have been gathered in a new paper entitled '' The Prelude: The deadliest city in America. "
n an interview with EXAME.com, the photographer, who is identified with a pseudonym for security ( "It's against the law to invade most places where I go"), says it was not difficult to enter the toxic city.
"That's part of the problem. The area should be better protected to prevent public access. I could feel small particles of toxic material hitting my face as the wind blew. Sometimes, I could even taste, "he says.
On the way into the city, he found only plates with hazard warnings and prohibition signs, and fallen trees, but this did not represent an obstacle. Upon arriving in the vicinity of Picher, he had to leave the car and proceed on foot.
He said the land was so dangerously thin that could collapse at any moment. If the ground was a threat, the horizon went beyond the risks. enigmatic mountain ranges surrounding the ghost landscape. "These sand hills appearing in photographs are toxic mining waste," he explains.
Through images like these, it seeks to provide a "diagnosis for some of the true evils of my country and, finally, some of the world's problems," he says.
When asked about a possible visit to Brazil to record the environmental tragedy of Mariana caused by the rupture of a full barrage of toxic waste mining Samarco, Lawless said: "I heard about it and would like to photograph it bringing more global awareness to the problem. It is a tragedy for the region that more people need to see and learn. "
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