Word: lake
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...ecologically threatened Springfield, Homer fouls the local lake with the refuse of a pig he's fallen in love with. The place is declared a disaster area, and an evil government bureaucrat orders that the town be domed. Having alienated everyone with his idiocy, Homer must prove himself a hero: "Risking my life-to save people I hate-for reasons I don't really understand...
...kids wading ankle-deep. At day's end, instead of returning to Chelyabinsk to spend the night in the grim Soviet surrounds known as "Tank City" for its role in equipping the Red Army, we headed for a holiday camp Kabriov knew on the shores of the massive Lake Uvil'dui, not far from where the Mayak facility's waste is now stored, more or less safely ensconced in concrete. Why let a little radioactivity spoil a beautiful July evening...
...That sentiment seems to be shared by many of the region's nouveaux riches, who have flocked to build summer mansions along the region's lakes. Indeed, with basic infrastructure failing to even come close to keeping pace with development, the garbage produced by the holiday-makers may pose more of a threat to the environment than does the Mayak nuclear waste. Kabriov drives me to one of the illegal trash dumps that have grown up in the thick trees around Lake Uvil-dui, where a stream of waste runs from the water's edge deep into the forest...
...Russia's wild-west capitalism has not exactly encouraged conservation, or even planning for the future. Guiding a motorboat around Lake Uvil'dui, Kabriov points out a series of increasingly elaborate lake houses whose style mimics 19th century Russian castles. "That one belongs to the deputy governor of the region," he says. Pointing to the next one, he adds, "That one belongs to the head of the local duma [legislature]." What of the owner of that half-finished mansion? "He was shot," says Kabriov, his failure to elaborate a reminder that such a fate was not uncommon in the rough...
...Alexander Krupin, a brusque, fatigue-wearing regional environmental official is quick to blame the new rich tenants for ruining his lake. But, he says, in his patrolling to watch for illegal dumping, he's noticed a change recently. Instead of throwing their trash behind the nearest clump of trees, they're pushing to bring a new, legal waste dump closer to their lake. "It's because they understand that they don't want to live in a garbage pile," he says. "They've spent all that money for the lake and they want to enjoy the clean nature...