Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • Taro plants wait to be planted.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114543.jpg
  • The golden apple snail lays eggs on taro plants in Hawaii.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964830.jpg
  • Men rip invasive mugwort out of a field to strengthen native plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956218.jpg
  • Workers collect wild agave in rural Oaxaca where 80% of the mescal made in Mexico. They use it to produce 1,000 liters of mescal a month at a small factory. The laborers cut 8-year old wild maguey instead of domestic plants with machetes they carry on their belts.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187029.jpg
  • Invasive weeds are removed from a field to strengthen native plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964802.jpg
  • Coqui frogs invaded the Hawaiian Islands from imported plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956211.jpg
  • Center-pivot irrigation systems etch circles of grain and other plants in Finney County, Kansas. These self-propelled, rotating sprinklers revolutionized farming, enabling more land to be irrigated efficiently. As the aquifer declines, some farmers only irrigate partial circles.  Each sprinkler needs to draw from a well that produces a minimum of 400 gallons of water a minute.<br />
<br />
Aerial photo showing fields between Dodge City and Garden City, Kansas as a rainbow appears after a storm. Corn is king and a water hungry crop. Switching to milo and bison could save the aquifer for the next generation. A center pivot pumping 694 gallons a minute can pump a million gallons a day. Rain measures roughly 18 inches years  in this region and a center pivot adds an additional 18 inches or more. Most of the pivots in the 70’s pump water out at 1,000 gallons a minute.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8429_2432801.JPG
  • A hand holding taro plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114541.jpg
  • Factories, power plants, and rail yards crowd along the banks of the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands. the World Trade Center is visible in the far right b ackground.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06460_668276.jpg
  • Carrizo Plain is the largest remaining San Joaquin Valley grasslands as they existed in California 300 years ago. Cheat grass was introduced and has taken over much of the valley. The aggressive grass sprouts early in the season, dries out under hot summer sun and often catches fire.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680966.jpg
  • A ginseng plant and it's roots in a woman's hand as a family hunts for ginseng in a West Virginia forest. A native plant in the Appalachian forest, ginseng is highly prized and harvested as a cash crop. It has been used for centuries in North America and Asia for a variety of illnesses and to increase vitality.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023708.jpg
  • Detail of a plant with tightly closed blossom buds.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760125.jpg
  • A mighty, old beech tree creates a sculptural point in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusettes. The park-like setting was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and is the second largest link the Emerald Necklace, a series of parks. Founded in 1872, the arboretum today encompasses 265 acres, and has collection areas delineated by family and genus that are tributes to the natural world.<br />
<br />
Smooth gray bark is a highlight of the impressive beech tree although the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) has a trunk that resembles elephant hide. Some trees in the beech collection were probably planted in the early 1800s. There are 14,900 individual plants with a particular emphasis on North American and east Asian Species. Carvings in the smooth bark can create pathways for insects that can harm the health of the trees.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6560_968656.jpg
  • A mirror image of El Capitan framed with fall leaves is reflected in water pooled along the Merced River in Yosemite National Park. Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the spectacular granite landscape was formed over millions of years by forces of nature. Volcanic uplifts transformed into glacial valleys, canyons, domes, rivers and amazing waterfalls, with habitat supporting rare species of plants including ancient Giant Sequoia trees.<br />
<br />
During a stint managing California gold mines, Frederick Law Olmsted, was inspired by nature while in Yosemite. He was America’s first landscape designer and is best known for his plans for New York Central Park. He became enthralled with Yosemite Valley and its “placid pools which reflect the wondrous heights.”<br />
<br />
Advocating for its protection, he planted the seeds for the National Park System 25 years before it was designated. He suggested the road on the valley floor travel around the perimeter-not down the middle along the Merced River-which would have spoiled the view. He also planned the route that tourists travel today from the valley floor to the giant sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove. Olmsted was appointed chairman of the Yosemite commission by the governor of California, and proposed that the valley floor and sequoia grove be set aside as a park—protected from development and left open for public enjoyment.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6560_956185.jpg
  • Gossamer blossoms of pink farewell-to-spring flutter on slopes of the Carrizo Plain National Monument where wildflowers flourish amid remnants of California’s original grasslands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-5.JPG
  • Center-pivot irrigation systems etch circles of grain and other crops. There is not enough in the aquifer for the inner circle to receive water.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8429_2481070.JPG
  • Silicon Valley 1980 after they cleared the prune yards, the buildout of all the fabrication plants for silicon wafers and other processes look like circuit boards from the air.
    RANDY OLSON_SV1980_012.jpg
  • Silicon Valley 1980 after they cleared the prune yards, the buildout of all the fabrication plants for silicon wafers and other processes look like circuit boards from the air.
    RANDY OLSON_SV1980_009.jpg
  • Silicon Valley 1980. Hispanic women were the primary workers in most of the fab plants I visited around this time.
    RANDY OLSON_SV1980_005.jpg
  • Silicon Valley 1980 after they cleared the prune yards, the buildout of all the fabrication plants for silicon wafers and other processes look like circuit boards from the air.
    RANDY OLSON_SV1980_002.jpg
  • A mighty, old European beech tree creates a sculptural point in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusettes. The park-like setting was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and is the second largest link the Emerald Necklace, a series of parks. Founded in 1872, the arboretum today encompasses 265 acres, and has collection areas delineated by family and genus that are tributes to the natural world.<br />
<br />
Smooth gray bark is a highlight of the impressive beech tree although the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) has a trunk that resembles elephant hide. Some trees in the beech collection were probably planted in the early 1800s. There are 14,900 individual plants with a particular emphasis on North American and east Asian Species. The Arboretum is a Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site and a National Historic Landmark.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6560_968731.jpg
  • Senevisa fish processing plant in Dakar processes cuttlefish brought in from artisanal fishermen. The local market consumes only three percent of the production of this plant.<br />
<br />
Artesianal fishermen sell products like octopus, squid and cuttlefish. The prime fish and cuttlefish leave this plant in Styrofoam fresh packs at 5pm in Dakar and are at the Paris Orly airport at 6am.<br />
<br />
Fish follows the money – If the Japanese pay the most for cuttlefish then it is shipped there overnight. Senevisa is the largest trawler/fish exporter working out of Senegal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058070.JPG
  • Aerial view of Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, that produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.<br />
The first two products manufactured at Dow Texas Operations were magnesium and chlorine from seawater to aid the World War II effort. Seventy- five years later, Texas Operations’ 65+ production units are making thousands of products – most of them ending up in products that we use every day. In 2012 – Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris announced Dow’s Freeport site had been chosen as the home for a new world-scale ethylene cracker. From Dow PR: Dow facilities in Texas produce BILLIONS of pounds of products each year that enhance the quality of life for people around the globe. Dow products serve virtually every consumer market ranging from food to building and construction and from health and medicine to transportation. These products are used in a variety of end-use products – office supplies, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, computers, furniture, paints, carpet, garbage bags, cosmetics, chewing gum, lozenges, cleaning products and food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2696239-4.JPG
  • Aerial view of Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, that produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.<br />
The first two products manufactured at Dow Texas Operations were magnesium and chlorine from seawater to aid the World War II effort. Seventy- five years later, Texas Operations’ 65+ production units are making thousands of products – most of them ending up in products that we use every day. In 2012 – Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris announced Dow’s Freeport site had been chosen as the home for a new world-scale ethylene cracker. From Dow PR: Dow facilities in Texas produce BILLIONS of pounds of products each year that enhance the quality of life for people around the globe. Dow products serve virtually every consumer market ranging from food to building and construction and from health and medicine to transportation. These products are used in a variety of end-use products – office supplies, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, computers, furniture, paints, carpet, garbage bags, cosmetics, chewing gum, lozenges, cleaning products and food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2696239-3.JPG
  • Aerial view of Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, that produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.<br />
The first two products manufactured at Dow Texas Operations were magnesium and chlorine from seawater to aid the World War II effort. Seventy- five years later, Texas Operations’ 65+ production units are making thousands of products – most of them ending up in products that we use every day. In 2012 – Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris announced Dow’s Freeport site had been chosen as the home for a new world-scale ethylene cracker. From Dow PR: Dow facilities in Texas produce BILLIONS of pounds of products each year that enhance the quality of life for people around the globe. Dow products serve virtually every consumer market ranging from food to building and construction and from health and medicine to transportation. These products are used in a variety of end-use products – office supplies, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, computers, furniture, paints, carpet, garbage bags, cosmetics, chewing gum, lozenges, cleaning products and food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2696239-2.JPG
  • Aerial view of Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, that produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.<br />
The first two products manufactured at Dow Texas Operations were magnesium and chlorine from seawater to aid the World War II effort. Seventy- five years later, Texas Operations’ 65+ production units are making thousands of products – most of them ending up in products that we use every day. In 2012 – Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris announced Dow’s Freeport site had been chosen as the home for a new world-scale ethylene cracker. From Dow PR: Dow facilities in Texas produce BILLIONS of pounds of products each year that enhance the quality of life for people around the globe. Dow products serve virtually every consumer market ranging from food to building and construction and from health and medicine to transportation. These products are used in a variety of end-use products – office supplies, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, computers, furniture, paints, carpet, garbage bags, cosmetics, chewing gum, lozenges, cleaning products and food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2696239-1.JPG
  • Heart-shaped taro plant leaves.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114542.jpg
  • Close up detail of a fern frond and vining plant.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760097.jpg
  • Close up of an arrowhead-shaped leafed plant with thorns.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964824.jpg
  • Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2703536.JPG
  • Aerial view of Dow Chemical’s giant plant in Freeport, Texas, that produces 1.65 million tons a year of ethylene, the building block of polyethylene, one of the most widely used plastics.<br />
The first two products manufactured at Dow Texas Operations were magnesium and chlorine from seawater to aid the World War II effort. Seventy- five years later, Texas Operations’ 65+ production units are making thousands of products – most of them ending up in products that we use every day. In 2012 – Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris announced Dow’s Freeport site had been chosen as the home for a new world-scale ethylene cracker. From Dow PR: Dow facilities in Texas produce BILLIONS of pounds of products each year that enhance the quality of life for people around the globe. Dow products serve virtually every consumer market ranging from food to building and construction and from health and medicine to transportation. These products are used in a variety of end-use products – office supplies, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, computers, furniture, paints, carpet, garbage bags, cosmetics, chewing gum, lozenges, cleaning products and food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2696239.JPG
  • A neighbor clasps a peanut plant to his chest, harvested from the community gar den run by Percy and Ella Heron in a Queens neighborhood.
    RANDY OLSON_06201_503874.JPG
  • Horses from a neighboring ranch graze on Arivaipa Canyon’s lush bottomland among protected native plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-10.JPG
  • Aquatic plants, seas of grasses float among expanses of water creating a vast and serene wilderness after sunset in the Okefenokee's Chesser Prairie. A still-life pattern is reflected in water in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-6.JPG
  • Young girls hike through an uplift meadow with a mosaic of flowering plants on Moser Island which separates North and South Arms Hoonah Sound off of Chichagof Island.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075161.jpg
  • A woman tends the garden she planted on the site of an old factory.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06460_668278.jpg
  • A family planting area in a sorghum field.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8259_2328010.JPG
  • Resettled people in a community neighboring a gold mine plant a garden for food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222975.JPG
  • A lone Chilean palm in Oasis de la Campana, an ecological reserve established to save the endangered Chilean palm tree. The oldest Chilean palm in the reserve is 1,200 years, and many of the larger ones photographed are 400-700 years old. There are 2,000 on the reserve and 8000 in the nearby park that are not protected. Once prevalent throughout Chile, the palms were decimated during the 19th century, felled for their sugar-sweet sap. <br />
Years ago Spaniards cut the taller trees to run cattle, plant crops on the land and to burn wood for charcoal. The 1828-meter peak of Cerro La Campana or Bell Mountain is in the background.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187509.jpg
  • A Yucca buccata plant growing in the Arizona desert with stiff fibers that are used in Native cultures for needle and thread.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-11.JPG
  • Silicon Valley 1980. Silicon wafers in a 1980 fabrication plant.
    RANDY OLSON_SV1980_003.jpg
  • Joshua trees are a type of yucca that can reach that Heavily dependent on annual rains, the native plant is formally known as Yucca brevifolia, which grows at lower elevations is desert terrain near the Virgin River in southwest Utah.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-12.JPG
  • Hydroseed grass is sprayed on steep contours of a reclaimed mountaintop removal mine site in an effort to control erosion. Reclamation requires mining companies to return the land to it's original contours and plant but little grows on these rocky soils and the operation is often repeated.  Spray-on grass replaces more than 60 tree species that ruled some of the world’s most diverse temperate forests.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023732.jpg
  • White-barked aspens contrast fall colors in the woodlands of the San Miguel River watershed where aspens, Populus tremuloides, grow along side a diverse mixture of shrubs and brush. The San Miguel River harbors one of the longest and highest quality stretches of deciduous and evergreen forests and shrub lands  in the western United States. The riparian corridor is lush and contains numerous globally rare riparian plant communities.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705747.jpg
  • Sugar workers chew cane during a break from harvesting charred cane in the hot sun. Canes are burned before they are cut because leaves from the plant are so sharp they dull blades of their machetes. The stalks are then loaded on a truck, taken to a mill to be processed into white and brown sugar. <br />
The Pomalca sugar cane coop is located at Campo Rosaliais, Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187072.jpg
  • Sugar workers are covered with black char as they harvest cane in the hot sun after fields are burned. Canes are burned before they are cut because leaves from the plant are so sharp they dull blades of their machetes. The stalks are then loaded on a truck, taken to a mill to be processed into white and brown sugar. <br />
The Pomalca sugar cane coop located at Campo Rosaliais, Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187071.jpg
  • Workers collect wild agave in rural Oaxaca where 80% of the mescal made in Mexico. They produce 1,000 liters of mescal a month at the small factory. The cut 8 year old wild maguey instead of planted with machetes they wear on their belts.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187029-1.JPG
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-10.jpg
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129.jpg
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-12.jpg
  • Water lilies in bloom.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7112_763268.JPG
  • View of a dramatic, stunted and twisted bare tree on Sentinel Dome.
    RANDY OLSON_06103_495737.JPG
  • Cold, snow and wind turn a tree into a bleached sculpture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_754678.jpg
  • Two tourists standing by trees are silhouetted against a night sky.
    RANDY OLSON_06103_495586.JPG
  • A bunchberry flower framed by ferns.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_754682.jpg
  • Locals arrested for growing marijuana by anti-poaching police.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7314_1023398.JPG
  • Fish plant worker in a fish processing plant in Oktyabrski, Kamchatka, the town where Soviets built two of the largest fish plants in Russia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260953.TIF
  • Mangrove tree and roots along with stranded boat on a tidal flat.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7112_763278.JPG
  • Millenium Village, an experimental village run by the United Nations.
    RANDY OLSON_04319_1203382.JPG
  • A young Aborigine girl hunting for mud crabs among mangrove trees.
    RANDY OLSON_04319_972121.TIF
  • Fireweed blooms in a meadow overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT6827_1547360.jpg
  • After a candle-lit bath in milk and honey, a couple is served champagne, then they snuggle down in a straw-filled bed. Luxury spas find unique ways to attract tourists.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024081.TIF
  • A heron stalking prey in water near tall grasses.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760118.jpg
  • Lush rain forest foliage of ferns and wood sorrel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760103.jpg
  • A group of starfish and seaweed on rock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760072.jpg
  • A farmer leaves muddy footprints in a taro patch.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964828.jpg
  • Invasive grass lines the shoreline near a wooden dock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964823.jpg
  • A family tending their taro fields, threatened by apple snails.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964803.jpg
  • A herd of colorful mustangs including Paints and Palominos graze through sagebrush as evening approaches. After stopping at the waterhole, they headed toward salt licks and to roll taking dust baths in Oregon's high desert.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222868.jpg
  • A close view of a blooming trillium.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760126.jpg
  • Pine cones scattered among wood sorrel and mosses.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760109.jpg
  • Woodland rain forest view with mosses, ferns, and wood sorrel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760094.jpg
  • A group of snails clustered around a seaweed covered rock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760081.jpg
  • Lush rain forest setting with ferns, mosses, wood sorrel, and trees.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760057.jpg
  • Lush rain forest setting with ferns, mosses, wood sorrel, and trees.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760052.jpg
  • A woman harvests taro leaves on the family farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964829.jpg
  • A girl plays in a taro field while the leaves are being harvested.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964827.jpg
  • Prairie smoke and other native flowers bloom under a stormy sky.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964808.jpg
  • An invasive, non-native, Eurasian leafy spurge grows in the grassland.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_964807.jpg
  • Kanoa family tending their taro fields, threatened by apple snails.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956212.jpg
  • A field taken over by introduced Eurasian leafy spurge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956208.jpg
  • Field with blooming prairie smoke flowers.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956207.jpg
  • A family of trumpeter swans swims in clear waters of Tangle Lakes hiding in the grasses in the shadow of Alaska's Denali National Park. Trumpeter Swans forage in shallow water, reaching under the surface to eat aquatic vegetation. Although Trumpeter Swans have been dubbed “a classic conservation success” and numbers have increased, human threats affect the population. The swans are extremely sensitive to human disturbance at their breeding sites and will abandon nests and cygnets if disturbed.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705759.jpg
  • Yellow Eurasian leafy spurge grows along clear waters of Medicine Lodge Creek in southern Utah where Bureau of Land Management and private land is intertwined.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680973.jpg
  • A grandmother and her granddaughter collect grasshoppers in a Oaxaca cornfield. Fried, the insects make a tasty dinner dish.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187018.jpg
  • A girl chews sweet stalks of sorghum after laying out seeds to dry.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7661_1283966.TIF
  • Vine maple leaves beginning to display bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760381.jpg
  • Woodland view of trees in autumn foliage.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760129.jpg
  • Vine maple leaves display bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760115.jpg
  • Vine maple leaves displaying bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760114.jpg
  • Detail of vine maple leaves in autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760079.jpg
  • Yellow wildflowers blooming around a decaying log.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760076.jpg
  • Mosses and ferns growing on and about a rotting fallen tree.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760061.jpg
  • Maple leaves in autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760059.jpg
  • Forests of dead Melaleuca trees stand in Everglade wetland prairies.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956217.jpg
  • Hobet 21 mountain top removal coal mine grows larger and approaches a family home. Mines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week creating coal dust impossible to keep out of houses.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023747.jpg
  • Like a cancerous mutation of strip mining, coal mining involves entire mountaintops that are blasted away to obtain a small seam of coal. Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams, destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023738.jpg
  • A 2.8 billion gallon sludge pond of toxic chemicals & heavy metals sits above a community in West Virginia. Coal slurry contains elevated levels of chlorides, sulfates, arsenic, lead, mercury, and selenium. Coal companies dispose of coal cleaning process creating a slurry in massive impoundments which are hundreds of feet deep and have failed or overflowed. Coal slurry impoundments represent a major threat to public health andaquatic organisms due to potential contamination of groundwater and streams.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023726.jpg
  • Slurry pond filled with toxic brew of heavy metals from coal washing. Dams hold back thick sludge with heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead that routinely overflow into watersheds, contaminate drinking water, and drive toxic sludge into residents’ backyards.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023651.jpg
  • Vine maple leaves to displaying bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760132.jpg
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