Norilsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia is one of the largest arctic cities (over 170,000 people). This area is rich in nickel, copper, palladium and cobalt deposits that have been discovered and started being exploited at the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1930's the city is the home to “Norilsk Nickle” the biggest mining and the metallurgical complex (six underground mines) in the world. The citizens experience noxious gases emitted from the mining and industrial activities, while even more extreme condition of pollution are experienced daily by the workers in the mining and metallurgical complex. The pollution consist of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, phenol, and chlorine that contaminated both air and water and therefore had an negative impact on local lakes and the fragile tundra ecosystem. According to the Blacksmith Institute (2007), Norilsk is one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. |