Rudnaya Pristan
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Rudnaya Pristan (Russian: Ру́дная При́стань, lit. Ore Wharf) is a village (selo) located at the mouth of the Rudnaya River, on the Pacific coast of Primorsky Krai. It is situated 35 km east of Dalnegorsk (in jurisdiction of which it is located) and approximately 514 km north of Vladivostok. Population: 2,389 (2002 Census); 2,947 (1989 Census).
Lead smelting has been the town's primary industry since a plant devoted to that purpose was built there in 1930. Though this plant has provided steady employment for most of the area's families since that time, it has done so at enormous cost to both the health of the residents and the local environment, as the soil has become heavily contaminated with lead-related by-products and the residents suffer from many health problems, including an inordinately high rate of cancer. This lead the Blacksmith Institute to declare Rudnaya Pristan, along with Dalnegorsk, as one of the ten worst polluted places on earth[1]. However, according to Anatoly Lebedev, leader of the ecological NGO BROK, this inclusion is questionable[2].
Despite its coastal location, Rudnaya Pristan has a harsh climate, dominated in winter by the vast Siberian high-pressure system and in summer by remnants of the East Asian monsoon, this combination resulting in very cold, dry winters with generally high winds, and muggy summers that provide ideal conditions for the breeding of mosquitos. Also in spite of the coastal location, the harbor has remained largely undeveloped.
