Cultural extraction at the edge of the abyss
BEFORE THE SUN RISES over Butte, Montana, on cold winter mornings when the air is still and dark, the sounds of shotgun blasts and air sirens pierce the quiet — ceaseless reminders of the massive toxic lake left behind in the city, a monument to unchecked corporate greed.
The mile-long acidic waters of the lake, known as the Berkeley Pit, mark the site of an abandoned copper mine. In years past, migrating birds have landed on the deadly lake and died by the thousands. For now and the foreseeable future, the solution lies in using noise to frighten away flocks of snow geese and other waterfowl before they land. The Atlantic Richfield Co. created this environmental
