#Toxic Wasteland

[terrorland]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Its 2023 people! I made this like just the day before new year and then I colored it now so yeah It took me a WHOLE YEAR to finish it! HAHA! Anyhow its another one of my Cosmo elfs! The first ones where Teletus and Taconessa. This one is named Ultrahardt and he is heading into some toxic wasteland! For those who doesnt know. Cosmo Elfs are my take on ¨ Elfs in Sci-fi¨ .Or maybe more know as Space elfs! They explore an postapocalyptic earth , equipped with AA battery loaded weapons, looking for answers and artifacts from ¨ the old world¨ !

#Cosmo elf #Cosmo elfs #post apocalypse #warhammer 40k eldar #Space elf #wasteland #toxic wasteland #Cobra shoulderpad #I WANT LASAGNE

[xtruss]

Thanks to a multiyear, multimillion dollar cleanup, what was once a toxic junkyard has become a flower- and fauna-filled zone at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Many national parks contain environments that have been remediated and reclaimed. Photograph By Chris Davis, National Park Service

It Was a Toxic Wasteland. Now It’s a National Park.

After a $50 million cleanup, flowers and wildlife replace chemicals and rusting cars in one corner of Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

— By Shannon Bohle | May 2, 2022

A junkyard that once held rusting cars and thousands of barrels of oozing toxic chemicals just got added to a national park. The former Krejci dump, a 45-acre parcel that operated from 1948 to 1980, opened to the public in December as part of a 200-acre addition to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a 33,000-acre swath that winds between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio.

Over the past 16 years, this corner of land near the Cuyahoga River was transformed from a Superfund site into a wetland teeming with birds and plants. It’s the most extensive and expensive of the hundreds of ongoing reclamation and rehabilitation projects overseen by the National Park Service (NPS).

Their work turns toxic zones—left behind after coal mining, oil drilling, or hazardous waste dumping—into safe, enjoyable outdoor oases. “Virtually every national park within the system has a contaminated site,” says Veronica Dickerson, a manager at the National Park Service’s Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division. “People think of bugs, bunnies, and beautiful scenery associated with national parks, but I manage 13 of the messiest projects in the park service.”

Millions of people visit the varied and stunning landscapes of the NPS each year. Few realize that many parks didn’t start out as pristine wilderness. The Grand Canyon once held a uranium mine on its south rim; copper and arsenic extraction sites used to pollute what’s now Joshua Tree National Park. National parks are growing, evolving landscapes that, over time, have been given or acquired new parcels that required remediation.

Today, Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s new acres offer travelers a chance to dip into a revived natural space. Here’s how it went from a wreck to an environmental triumph.

Pollution Inspires a Movement—and an Ohio Park

After the polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire for the 13th time on June 22, 1969, magazines including Time and National Geographic ran articles and photos detailing the area’s ecological crisis. The national outrage that followed catapulted Cleveland to the center of America’s new environmental movement, helping to create the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and to pass The Clean Water Act of 1972.

A 1985 photo shows the Krejci dump, a toxic Superfund site that has been rehabilitated and reopened as part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Photograph Courtesy of NPS Collection

The Clean Water Act inspired both governmental agencies and volunteer groups to clean out waterways across the U.S. It also spurred the creation of the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, which the NPS designated in 1974 to protect and restore one quarter of the length of the Cuyahoga River. It was named a national park in 2000.

The NPS continues to purchase private land adjacent to national parks and recreation areas, removing manmade structures and environmental hazards with the goal of restoring areas to their natural states. That’s what it did in 1985 in the Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, when it acquired the Krejci salvage yard, which had been operated by John Krejci. Sr., and his family for more than 30 years.

From Superfund Site to Wetlands

An Environmental Protection Agency study found that the Krejci dump was contaminated with toxic and hazardous waste including PCBs, benzene, cadmium, and lead.

The U.S. government filed a “Superfund” lawsuit in 1997, a legal action that can hold polluters financially responsible. Fences, signs, and barricades went up, and the long process of reversing the damage began.

A 2006 photo shows the Krejci dump site after toxic soil had been removed. The resulting ravines had to be shored up as part of a $50 to $60 million clean up. Photograph Courtesy of NPS Collection

“The river here was dead. Not like just a few fish, but no fish. It had zero oxygen in places,” says Chris Davis, a Plant Ecologist for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “Krejci was a ‘biological desert,’ meaning almost nothing could live in the area.”

The EPA administrates Superfund sites, forcing the parties responsible for the pollution to fund cleanups. For the Krejci site, six companies, including Ford and General Motors, shelled out between $50 and $60 million. “The total cost was exorbitant; it was the largest cleanup by far in National Park Service history,” says Davis.

Cleanup and reclamation efforts began shortly after the Superfund case was settled in 2002. Ford paid for and organized the removal of 375,00 tons of contaminated soil in 2002, which required machines to dig to a depth of up to 25 feet. The park service began naturalizing the area in 2012, grading the soil and recreating 3.5 acres of seasonal wetlands and planting native grasses, wildflowers, and sedges.

A Natural Wonderland Reborn

Today, the former Krejci dump is a site of environmental renewal. Located in the central region of the park, it’s a plant- and animal-filled seasonal marshland teeming with wildflowers, Jefferson salamanders, American toads, bald eagles, and woodcocks.

“If someone is interested in habitat restoration, there’s no better place,” says Davis. “This was a toxic wasteland only a few decades ago. To find this diversity of species there today is remarkable.”

Wetlands and seasonal wildflowers now dominate the former Krejci dump site. Photograph By Chris Davis, National Park Service

No official trails, facilities, or bridges exist in the Krejci acres yet. For now, the best way to see the dump-turned-dreamland is by driving along Hines Hill Road between Brandywine Falls and the Boston Mill Visitors Center. A pull-off on the eastern side of the road accesses a small trail into the area; Davis calls it “a nice, quiet place to contemplate nature.”

It’s just one of many restored and reclaimed sites within the national park. Nearly three million people visited it in 2021 to bike and walk along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath trail, canoe in the river, or snap photos of Brandywine Falls, a 65-foot-tall waterfall that plunges into a gorge.

One of the earliest restoration efforts in the Cuyahoga Valley park happened in 1984 when Cleveland- and Akron-area Sierra Club members worked with the NPS to clear out another auto scrapyard. Those efforts led to the popular Beaver Marsh zone in the southern half of the park. Now, it’s among the park’s most-visited spots, where joggers, bikers, or walkers cross a 565-foot-long boardwalk to see dam-building beavers or painted turtles bobbing amid lily pads.

Sierra Club member Peg Bobel remembers that original cleanup. “The visible pollution in the river was just heartbreaking,” she says. “The hands-on, grassroots environmental movement and the national laws being passed worked hand-in-hand.”

— Shannon Bohle is an Ohio technology and science writer whose work has appeared in Nature and the Journal of the Medical Library Association.

#Toxic Wasteland #National Park #Shannon Bohle #Cleveland | Akron | Ohio. #Krejci Dump #Cuyahoga Valley National Park #Cuyahoga River #National Park Service (NPS) #wetlands | Birds 🦅 | Plants 🌱 #Veronica Dickerson #National Park Service | Environmental Compliance | Cleanup Division #Pollution #National Geographic #Environmental Protection Agency #Chris Davis | Plant Ecologist | Cuyahoga Valley National Park #EPA Administration #Natural | Wonderland | Reborn #Brandywine Falls | Boston Mill Visitors Center

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: What Led to Ray's Explosive Tirade (Playing 'The Bad Guy')

I have to admit that this was not how I expected this scene to play out. I was just as flabbergasted as everyone else at first. However I think there's one clear thing that Ray's outburst reminded me off: no matter whether you reveal the truth or keep it to yourself - either way, you are the bad guy.

I'm NOT the Villain

As Boston very derisively claims, if Ray reveals the truth of the affair, he'll be the one unleashing the damage. A similar parallel to what Boston did last episode (with very different intentions may I add, but damage is damage nonetheless).

Mew is incredibly important to Ray. If we talk simply outside of Ray's love for him, Ray wants to treat him well, repay him for his kindness and support over the years. Therefore, once Ray was in possession of this information, he felt very strongly that Mew needed to know. He knew telling Mew was the right thing to do. He does genuinely care about Mew as a person.

Does he warn Mew and ruin his present happiness (which is based on a lie)? Or does he hold his tongue and potentially watch his friend get hurt from other mistreatments by Top further down the line?

Ray doesn't want to hurt Mew in any way. He doesn't want to be the bringer of bad news. Why should it have to fall to him to reveal this awful act of betrayal to someone he cares for so much? And when Mew supposedly doesn't react in the way he expects to this information, Ray goes ballistic with frustration, concern and anger. Why is he the bad guy for trying to help his friend, when Top can seemingly get away with it, and be in everyone's good graces even when he's completely undeserving? Why can no one else see Top's true colours?

I'm NOT the Worst

Something else that occurred to me throughout this episode, is how often Ray's friends belittle and overlook him. And it's so routine they hardly even notice.

Boston has never tried to hide his snide little back-handed comments at Ray. Since their fight at Sand's, he's become even more callous when throwing quips in plain sight. Namcheum makes an observation about all of them being partnered up, and it's only after a few beats that April points out Ray is still single. It's as if they forgot he was even there. Namcheum doesn't tend to pick up on any of the animosity or tension within this group. She's generally not the most tactful or best at reading people.

Then when Ray speaks to Mew in the bathroom, Mew immediately assumes Ray's been taking drugs. Ray looks clearly stunned by this. Yes, he's always coined as the 'drunk' but that's not his one and only personality trait. That's not all he does and is as a person.

It dawns on Ray that even his closest friends seem to always assume the very worst of him. He had a bad feeling about Top from the offset but no one cared or listened. Rather, Ray never gets given the benefit of the doubt, when he's not committed anything as problematic as the heinous crimes amongst their group. Particularly when compared to Top, someone who gets all the praise and adoration when Ray knows he's a certified piece of shit, is desperately unfair. And most of all Top gets the respect of the best friend he loves.

I think what really sent the situation hurtling south was Ray watching everyone play happy families, when he knows there is a web of dishonesty and resentment lurking beneath. It's all a farce. And Ray couldn't stomach it for another moment longer. He had enough.

Become the Very Thing You Loathe

In Episode 4, Ray displays a classic example of self-loathing and self punishment when he goads Sand to scold him. In doing so, it's as if he's deriving some warped form of satisfaction in owning these criticisms. Because he's told these things so often, he starts to believe it, so why not own it too? I actually mentioned this in my Episode 1 meta (regarding Ray's self-actualisation of becoming a burden). Sometimes embracing the very thing you hate being know for, at least validates the presence of that criticism. 'If people keep calling me an asshole, then fine, I'll become an asshole. At least then being called an asshole makes sense.'

So Ray brought it on himself to air out everyone's dirty laundry. 'Fuck it, if you really all think I'm the worst, then fine, I'll do what needs to be done, I'll be the worst. You all happy now?'

Even though Ray adopts the persona forced onto him, he's not happy about it at all. He wants to be identified with more substance, with more credit, as more than just what everyone claims him to be.

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #only friends meta #ray x sand #sand x ray #ray pakorn #firstkhao #khaofirst #khaotung thanawat #first kanaphan #poor ray breaking my heart #this boy's characterisation has so many layers im quaking #me during episode: (shrieking) NOOO RAY DON'T PLEASE #can sand please whisk ray away so they can be happy away from this toxic wasteland of drama and clownery?

[greensupremetangerine]

PSA that harassing, bullying, and kicking a person out of a fandom is toxic behavior. A difference in opinions does not warrant anonymous hate, and claiming it wasnt that bad and there's no proof because they didn't post the hate doesn't retract the fact that something happened to make them deactivate their account.

Fandoms are supposed to be places of community, enjoyment, and celebration of a mutually liked piece of media. There isn't room for hate, because the concept of a fandom does not naturally account for it.

If someone says something you dont like, it does not give you the right or responsibility to "put them in their place" or "teach them what's right" or whatever. A person is allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions. You can retort, discuss, disagree, hell you can even block them, but for the love of god don't single them out and make them a villain. It doesn't automatically make you the right side if they stop talking.

Also, the anonymous button isn't for keeping the blame off yourself. It's not for sending a dozen death threats while still looking pretty and proper on your blog. The person recieving anons has no way to disengage from the conversation. They cannot block, the best they can do is disable anons and stop the kind, shy people from asking silly questions or hope you give up and stop. The last resort is completely deleting your account, and again, its not a sign of your victory, it's a sign of the fandom' loss, and it is a sign that you are the vicious aggressor.

If youre struggling to stop doing these things, by no means am I a saint or a therapist, but removing yourself from the situation and letting yourself breathe, even for a moment, will probably help a lot with your relationships and mental health. I'm a believer that people can change and it is in human nature to do so, even if it's hard. It's a conscious decision to be a good person (I'm not calling you evil) and being a kind person is fulfilling in amazing ways.

tl;dr don't harass people :( it doesn't give you the high ground and it makes the fandom a worse place.

#this is about shinybluebirdwizard #and spyxfamily #the show is about creating peace and making a world where children dont have to cry #so why is the fandom making a world that grown adults cant handle being in? #if you drive out the biggest contributors because they jokingly said yor is the “less liked parent” #again #jokingly #then youre going to run out of people to talk to #youre going to be standing in a wasteland and asking why no one likes your show anymore #humanity survives and thrives through community #spy x family #personal rant #spyxfamily #fandom #toxicity #please dont make the fandom unlivable #edit i have no proof that shinybluebirdwizard got death threats #i dont know everything about the situation so i did not want to extrapolate and cause confusion #id like to believe that it didnt happen but we cant prove that

[whirlpool-blogs]

Mitch Marner And Kyle Dubas Discuss Six-Year Contract With Maple Leafs |  John Tavares injured as Leafs fall to Habs | Maple Leafs emotional after another Game 7 loss | Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime to advance in NHL playoffs | Kyle Dubas changed the Toronto Maple Leafs, but not their playoff history | post by @starpeace

#kyle dubas #post #mitch marner #auston matthews #john tavares #sleep well king you built a beautiful team in a toxic wasteland

[puniper]

i barely even use my twitter account, so my new years resolution is to just stop going on that site altogether

#unless its strictly to post art but no more browsing that mental toxic wasteland website

[sunnibits]

heyyyy so like. could we maybe make a tag or something for the people who are super genuinely upset about the finale. like #ofmd negativity or something. bc shit I’m upset too but I don’t think I’m necessarily upset in the same way you guys are and reading 1 million posts just shitting on the show isn’t really making me feel better 😭

#can we like. be better than this maybe #can we take a breath perhaps #bc turning the fandom into a toxic negative sludge wasteland rlly doesn’t seem like the healthy way to move forward #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd #izzy hands #the finale discourse #ofmd finale

[cryptids]

Yeah so as expected, it seems like first quantum minerals will be taking the panamanian government to an international court now (arbitration will apparently take place in florida).

I guess there's nothing panama can do at this point but just present our case and hope they don't win, but honestly it's making me angry. I can't even tell you guys how shady this company is.... They did so much illegal shit and covered it up, but bc they have so much money and power/influence nearly every news outlet in other countries is like "well the company denied those allegations" and leaves it at that.

I also want to add that they did something really similar in the congo, where the DRC government revoked a contract and forced FQM out bc they had breached it's terms SO many times. They also left the congo completely in ruins with massive amounts of pollution and damage to the land (which is exactly what they want to do to us here, and would have if we hadn't fought against it and managed to win), and contributed massively to the situation going on in the congo right now too. Not to mention how much damage they were ALREADY doing here in panama, like the locals have been getting sick for years and the water supply is already poisoned in the region where their mine is.

And it still seems like barely anybody in canada has a clue this is all going on??? It sucks knowing I don't have a big enough platform to bring more international awareness to all this myself, but I also am not good at writing and putting things into words lmao.

But anyway... now that they can't tell photographers to go away, we have more pictures of the mine itself (as it is right now) and it really is enormous already. Like knowing how much more it was going to expand is insane, and right in the middle of a rainforest literally full of endangered animals. It's still such a relief to know this was stopped for good even though its pissing me off how they won't even leave without trying to suck as much money as possible out this country and hurt us as much as possible in the process.

(Here's some of those pictures before I end up ranting more though lmao)

#I had to stop reading articles about it from US news outlets bc it was making me so angry how many of them are on FQM's side too #and there's this really prevalent attitude thats like #subtly implying our entire population of 4 million people are somehow all too stupid to understand a good business deal #and sabotaged our own future by not wanting to host what would be one of the biggest mines in the world + endless other mining operations #like yeah ok. sure. #it was a bad decision to not want most of the country to become a toxic wasteland like the other places they exploited for resources #while having even more money stolen from us at the same time.....😐 #but sorry this post is so long jsdgfgjsdgs I just had to vent #long post #🐊

[flowers-shouldnt-die]

“So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.” ― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

#tissaia #vilgefortz #tissaia de vries #vilgefortz of roggeveen #vilgefortz x tissaia #vilgefortz/tissaia #the witcher #the witcher netflix #ahh yes a toxic wasteland of a relationship

[spockvarietyhour]

#Fallout 76 #FO76 #Appalachian Wasteland #Toxic Valley #Point Pleasant #Nuka World on Tour #Riverside Manor #Sugar Grove #Danny plays FO76

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

Girl drop the haircare routine

#Sanctuary was more toxic than the literal radioactive wasteland he livin in now #he was supposedly 'living like a king'' back there but he look ILL #what no pussy does to a mf #whosaidthat #ftwd liveblog #ftwd

[grandpashagger69]

So they're doing a Salmon run for the new event

#limbus company #That toxic fucking wasteland looking ahh map looks like a Salmon run location

[apocalypse-lover]

#wasteland #post apocalypse #doomsday #revolution #larp #capitalism #post apocalyptic #anarchy #apocalypse #soldier #sexy #woman warrior #zombies #survivalist #prepper #apocalypse core #wasted #dark aesthetic #fallout #toxic #rrr #salvage #distressed

[thunderheadfred]

it's not worth getting into the details, but a complete stranger on threads managed to say something so deeply triggering and hurtful about my decision to start a family that I bawled my eyes out in real life, to the point that my partner thought I was like, about to die or something, so uh..... think I'm officially done with that algorithmic garbage fire...........

#I was really just using it as a news aggregator #and it's been failing at THAT basic task pretty consistently #so uh #time to move the fuck on #social media is a toxic wasteland #be kind to one another please

[slicedblackolives]

i too am, in many ways, just like batman. mentally ill. off-putting. lives with legal guardian(s). raccoon eyeliner. etc

#in a crime infested toxic wasteland (noida)

[kasperbunny]

do u guys think Danse would paint his nails given the chance

#kasper yaps #i think he would! #art paints his own nails so danse might see it and be like oh. im allowed to do that? #idk if theres even non toxic nail polish in the wasteland but i dont care