Hazelwood Green

At an old steel site in Pittsburgh, bacteria evolved to survive – and eat – industrial pollution

<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757604/original/file-20260902-60-j7pkeg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&rect=0%2C1%2C8256%2C5503&q=45&auto=format&w=1050&h=700&fit=crop" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author works on gathering soil samples in a field near Mill 19 in Hazelwood.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cmu.widencollective.com/portals/zve7zami/UCM260305B_WTM_Armbruster#c3d884fc-5aec-4050-a605-3dc23a034272">Kevin Lorenzi/Mellon College of Science via Carnegie Mellon University</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across Appalachia and the Rust Belt region, including throughout the city of <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/pittsburgh-news">Pittsburgh</a>, <a href="https://www.ura.org/pages/brownfield-projects">former industrial sites</a> are being transformed into <a href="https://www.ura.org/pages/southside-works">new neighborhoods</a>, <a href="https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/brownfields/brown