Natural Or Man-made?

Did you notice my late MM entry of mom dancing "The Floss?"

This is not a view of any natural mountains.  What you see in the background is a small section of the miles of copper mine tailings "pile."  The fine, powdery (yet concrete type) dust is the waste product of mining copper.  The height of the mountains of tailings grows at a rate of 6-8 feet per year.  This was a view from about 5 miles up the mountain road. 

I mentioned to mom how folks who don't live near mines probably are unfamiliar with the word 'tailings.' Then she reminded me of when the Bethlehem Steel Plant was operating in our section of Western NY. The plant was located right on Lake Erie and along the main route into Buffalo.  The houses across the street were coated with steel tailings.  In that case, though, they were rust colored.  The plant shut down in 1983-84. So, there are different kinds of tailings, none of which are particularly healthy.  

Fortunately for me, the weather has been decent and I've been spending as much time out of my house as possible.  It seems to have affected my breathing more than moms.