The Toxic Pit With A $3 Admission Fee

Hey, I've been there!

And I've written about it, too.

Berkeley Pit is fascinating as a legacy of the environmental consequences of mining - particularly of open pit mining - and a roadside attraction that you can see for a scant $3 admission fee.

Tom Scott - whose YouTube channel is mostly fascinating explorations of Tom's many interests (languages, computer technology, "Things You Might Not Know", and a couple of 'shows' that I should probably check out) - makes a stop at The Pit in the above video and gets a lot closer to the water than I was ever allowed to go - or than I really tried to go, honestly.

He visits the propane cannon used to scare off birds, sees the high-powered rifles used for the same, and sees one of the world's largest water treatment plants - only to be fully online once the water level within The Pit equalizes with the water table outside The Pit and the toxic, sulfuric-acidic water begins to leave The Pit.

I did fact check one detail of the video -  at 0:29 when Tom says "and so deep you could fit the new One World Trade Center standing upright in it."

According to Wikipedia (citation needed), the approximate depth of The Pit (I really like capitalizing both words there) is 1780 feet. According to Wikipedia again, One World Trade Center's architectural height is 1776 feet, but the height to the tip of the antenna on top is 1792 feet.

So, looks like Tom is approximately right, but the tip might extend just a bit above the surface.

I wonder what the water (pH~2.4) would do to the building?