KAREN T. BORCHERS

US NEWS ENV-POLLUTEDWATER 6 SJ

Hazardous waste crews, working with the EPA, measure the area of the upper pond that has turned orange from rust and contains mercury and sulfuric acid as seen at the deserted New Idria mercury mines, October 25, 2011. The mines, in rural San Benito County, were once a bustling community, but now the miners are gone, and the pollution remains. (Karen T. Borchers/San Jose Mercury News/MCT)