contamination and waste
Wearing the Lead Glasses
Places Journal
A writer tracks the longest epidemic in American history — from his own family, to the origins of the gas industry, to the Flint water crisis and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Cisco Trash Map
Places Journal
On railroads, oil rigs, uranium mines, 7-11 pizzas, Thelma and Louise, ruination, salvage, and the limits of the garbage gaze.
City Ground
Places Journal
The making of geological strata — the very ground beneath feet — is an essential component of the mass shift of humankind to urban living.
Mitigations
Places Journal
In the coal country of Southeast Ohio, the past is a renewable resource, growing larger every year.
Look Only at the Movement
Places Journal
Two artist-designers follow nuclear waste shipments on American highways.
The Trash Heap of History
Places Journal
How Monte Testaccio, Rome’s ancient landfill, can inform contemporary reclamation projects.
The Half-Life of History
Places Journal
A writer and photographer document the ruined military base where the U.S. Air Force trained for the bombing of Hiroshima.
The Mustard Gas in Sherwood Forest
Places Journal
The idea that violence leaves an invisible trace on the land has captivated artists and writers for centuries.
Heavy Metal
Places Journal
The gorgeous vistas and toxic legacy of an historic mining district in Northern Idaho.
Oscar-Zero: Notes from a Nuclear Tourist
Places Journal
Deep underground in some of the least populous parts of the country, our sites of atomic weaponry are mostly out of mind. Like the dark corner of our souls, we don’t want to go there.
When the Ground Gives Way
Places Journal
Seven years ago, a Louisiana petrochemical operation overlooked warnings and a 6,000-foot-deep cavern collapsed into a sinkhole at Bayou Corne. New photographs show the aftermath of disaster.
New Fuel for an Old Narrative: The BP Oil Disaster
Places Journal
A geographer recalls the long hot summer of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster — and the high price New Orleans is paying for America’s appetite for oil.