Volga lights № 22 Dead zone (1989)

River and steppe landscapes in the Volgograd region.

Waterfowl on the evaporation ponds of the "Himprom" and "caustic" associations in the vicinity of the village of Swell.

View of the chemical plant, passing by the train.

Waste is drained into the water.

Panorama of the infected section of the river.

A duck affected by chemical waste.

Crows sit on the concrete stakes of the fence.

Road sign at the entrance to the village of Swell.

Birds in the sky.

The water flows out from the broken septic tank into the river.

Local residents talk about several cases of breakthrough of raw chemical waste from the sump, grass poisoning in pastures and its impact on the quality of milk from cows eating infected grass (synchronously).

Panorama of a mown field.

Panorama of the infected water area.

View of the village.

Local residents talk about the poisoning of water in the well from which the cattle were watered, the subsequent death of livestock and fruit trees due to poisoned water, the appearance of bitter milk in cows, an unpleasant smell coming from storage ponds (synchronously).

A water tanker passes by.

Waste is poured out of the pipe into the river, a type of contaminated water.

Injection of imported water into tanks.

The girl draws water from the well.

Panorama of the garden with dried fruit trees.

Type of sick vine.

Faces of children in a local kindergarten.

Geese on the river Bank.

Cows go to pasture.

Panorama of a part of the storage sump, waste is poured out of the pipe.

A local doctor speaks about the birth of defective children and premature babies, about diseases of pregnant women due to unfavorable environmental conditions, about the increase in cases of children's allergic diseases (synchronously).

Baby's face.

Flock of sheep in the pasture.

Women sit on a bench near the fence, an inhaler in the hands of one of them.

Face of women.

Shepherds drive a flock of sheep across the steppe.

The head of the local economy speaks about the environmental issues facing him, the need to switch chemical production to a closed cycle, the further construction of pipelines for waste, and the unsuccessful appeal to higher authorities (synchronously).

Panorama of the territory with a fence of ponds-evaporators.

Combine harvester at harvest, view of the barbed wire fence.

Types of enterprises that pollute the environment.

Draining the water of chemical waste.

Panorama of the territory with settling tanks and a pipeline for chemical waste.

Pipelines laid for the transportation of chemical waste.

The doctor tells about his appeal to various authorities due to the deterioration of the environmental situation, about requests to close the septic tanks and the lack of any response from the management (synchronously).

Water in the sump pond.

The Commission inspects the settling ponds.

Chairman of the regional Executive Committee Orlov listens to the explanations of the local leadership.

The head of the local economy speaks about the results of the Commission (synchronously).

Persons of the Commission members.

Panorama of one of the settling ponds.

View of the part of the pipeline that drains chemical waste into the water.

A doctor examines a crying baby, gives children injections, faces of crying children, waste spilling out of the pipe (alternating plans).

Birds that died from toxic fumes on the shore.

Baby's face.