Rubbish Mountain – level 3

24-02-2021 15:00

For fifty years, refuse trucks have been piling waste into the Severny Samarka landfill in the Leningrad region, Russia.

The 50-meter-high trash pile occupies 33 hectares, and it receives around 1,000 tons of waste every day. Currently holding close to 30 million cubic meters of rubbish, the site is a major concern to Russia’s environmental agency. It was initially intended as a dump for construction waste; however, it now takes all kinds of rubbish. Russians living near the site say that they can barely breathe due to the noxious fumes.

Russia’s environmental watchdog fined the site’s owner last year, demanding an end to the dumping; however, a court ruled that business could continue despite the damage to the environment. Although protests are regularly held at the site, no one takes responsibility for the dump.

Difficult words: noxious (harmful or poisonous), fume (a smoke or gas), watchdog (an organization that monitors companies and detects illegal activities).

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