Andrew Blackwell - Visit Sunny Chernobyl - And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places

shipping arrangements for, 207

60 Minutes report on, 207

souvenir chips bought by author, 214

toxic hazards of, 206

Environmentalism

beauty and, 226

Christianity and, 269–270

division of humanity and nature in, 171–73, 179–180, 292

of Hilton Kelley in Port Arthur, 80–84

in India, 248

nature-as-purity concept, 172–73, 280, 281, 292

oil sands development fight, 44

scorned by soy farmers, 186–87

Exclusion Zone

checkpoint at entry to, 14

dead zone, 19–20, 35

distribution of contamination, 17–18

itinerary through, 15

Kolachi (buried village), 20

Pripyat (deserted city), 22–28

Pripyat River, 32–33

reactor visitor center, 29–32

Red Forest, 21

as Zone of Alienation, 34

Fort McMurray, Canada

CO 2emissions from, 60–61

described, 44–45

duck holocaust in, 41–42, 54

oil’s influence on, 49–50

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

challenge of cleaning up, 126, 127, 128, 129

challenges getting the voyage started, 121, 122, 124–25

Chernobyl compared to, 127

discovery of, 118

Eastern and Western patches, 120

as an ecosystem, 119

fishing net in, 138–39, 146–47

galaxy compared to, 148

inaccessibility of, 120, 148–49

nonvisual nature of, 147–48

not an island, 118, 119, 126, 148

origins of material in, 119–120, 129, 149

plastic confetti in, 126–27, 129

questions needing research, 149–150

size of, 119

varied nature of, 142

voyage from, 151–55

voyage in, 146–151

voyage to, 117–18, 129–146

Greenpeace

on cancer due to Chernobyl, 36

Cargill negotiations, 190–91, 199–200

on Crane Lake, 66

oil sands activism by, 67–68

people excluded from environment by, 179–180

on shipping electronic waste, 207

Guiyu, China, 206–19

described, 205–6

pollution in, 206, 215, 216–17, 219

temple tour by children, 215–16

India

environmentalism in, 248

environmental law in, 260, 261

ghats in, 256, 257, 262–66

holy rivers in, 247–48

judiciary rulings in, 260

as land of contrasts, 249–250

origin of name, 247–48

sexual abuse of children in, 257

Kasei (ship taken to Garbage Patch)

crew of, 122–25

daily life on, 135–37

described, 121

going aloft, 142–43

misgivings about, 121–22, 124, 125

oddity of, 123–24

previous Garbage Patch voyage of, 129

propeller fouled by net, 138–39

squall false alarm, 151

steering, 132–33

Kiev

Chernobyl Museum, 3–4

electronics black market, 9–10

fled after Chernobyl accident, 2

journey to Chernobyl from, 14

practices after Chernobyl, 2–3

radiation detector sought in, 6–7, 9–11

radiation levels in, 14, 18

Linfen, China

Audi sales in, 233–36

billboards on outskirts, 229

coal pervading, 232

drum tower in, 222–23

healthy civic life in, 223–24, 225–26

as most polluted city in the world, 220–22, 223, 229–232

Sad Coal Man symbol of, 224–25, 230, 239–240

Spring Festival in, 223–24

tourist attractions in, 227–29

Oil drilling

by big vs. small companies, 106–8

continuing on Spindletop, 103–9, 110–12, 115

equipment for, 104–6

kerosene as original goal of, 76

original Lucas oil well, 75, 76, 88–89, 113, 114–15

process of, 105

stripper fields, 106

Oil sands

air pollution from, 56

amount in Canada, 43

amount of oil produced from, 56–57

as dirty oil, 43–44

duck holocaust due to mining, 41–42, 54

helicopter tour of, 68–71

Keystone XL pipeline from, 73–74

land reclamation, 57, 59, 61–62, 63–66

older dragline system of mining, 54–55

overburden covering, 59

process of removing oil from, 43, 47–48

salaries paid for mining, 55–56

size of mining equipment, 54–55, 58–59

sulfur byproduct from, 48–49, 69

Suncor bus tour of, 50, 53–59

tailings mountain from mining, 69

US attitudes toward, 43, 44

Oil spills

Deepwater Horizon , 113–14

Eagle Otome tanker, 89–90, 102

fishing after, 94–95

pelican rescue after, 92–93, 95–97

work generated by, 90–93

Pollution

in Beijing, China, 219–220

Blacksmith’s list, 230–32

in Chinese cities, 231

from coal, 221, 237–38

from electronics recycling, 206, 215, 216–17, 219

in Ganges river, India, 248, 270

in Linfen, China, 220–22, 223, 227, 229–232

oil industry, 56, 78, 81, 83, 84–85

sources in India, 260

Port Arthur, Texas

cancer in, 84–85

Chamber of Commerce slogan, 91–92

Eagle Otome tanker accident, 89–90, 102

expansion after oil discovery, 76

Keystone XL pipeline to, 73–74

Mardi Gras Ball, 85, 86–88

poverty in, 79

refineries surrounding, 78–79

refinery pollution in, 78, 81, 83

ship channel, 89, 90, 97–102

Project Kasei

current line crossed, 155

daily life at sea, 135–37

debris collection technique, 139

first debris sightings, 133–34

goal of the voyage, 128–29

mahimahi caught, 145–46

motto of, 121, 128

NOAA waypoint, 140, 141

ocean-current model testing, 140–41

plans to maximize data, 144–45

scientific shortcomings of, 134–35, 140–41, 144–45, 147–150, 154

watches for debris, 130–31, 133–35, 140

Radiation detectors

function of, 7–8

noise made by, 19–20, 21

Radiation levels

adaptation to, 26

at beginning of “dead zone,” 19–20

checked after Chernobyl area visit, 39

after Chernobyl accident, 29

confusing measurements of, 8

in Kiev, 14, 18

at Kolachi, 20

in Pripyat, 24–25, 27

at Pripyat turnoff, 21

in the Red Forest, 21

standards for, 18

in town of Chernobyl, 18

Sad Coal Man, 224–25, 230, 239–240, 245

Santarém, Brazil

Cargill terminal in, 159, 167–68

rivers meeting in, 161–62

selection as destination, 159

Soy farmers in Brazil

environmentalists scorned by, 186–87

local dislike of, 180

local environment changed by, 181

not major cause of deforestation, 189

small farms bought by, 180–81, 182

southern migration of, 185–86

soy moratorium, 190–91, 198–201

Spindletop, Texas, 103–12

archeology sites, 109–10

continued drilling, 103–9, 110–12, 115

natural gas storage in, 109

original Lucas oil well, 74–76, 88–89, 113, 114–15

overdrilling at, 88

Yamuna river, India, 254–55

black water of, 247

cleanup programs, 260–62

cremation ground beside, 254–55

as dead river, 252

diversion into canals, 251–52

eutrophicated segment, 261

groundwater depletion and, 262

ISBT highway bridge, 257–59

kayaking plans for, 266

monsoon floods and, 253

as most polluted river, 249

Najafgarh drain, 267–68

offerings to, 253, 258–59, 263, 264, 268

Okhla Barrage, 256

Ram Ghat, 262–66

rowboat trip on, 251, 252–55

scavenging from, 254–55, 258–59, 263, 264

as sewage canal, 251, 252, 253

suicides in, 264–65, 266

yatra along, 266–67, 269, 275–299