For decades, the Lonza chemical plant in Upper Valais dumped more than 200 tons of mercury, poisoning the soil and rivers. What seemed to be just industrial waste turned out to be an insidious poison. As workers grow weaker and nature slowly dies, political and economic authorities prefer to look the other way to protect the region’s largest employer. This story combines human drama, personal history, investigation, and collective memory: how could an entire canton sacrifice its population and landscape on the altar of industrial progress?