Lead smelting has been the town's primary industry since a plant was built there in 1930. The plant has provided steady employment for most of the area's families since that time, but at enormous cost to both the health of the residents and the local environment. The residents suffer from many health problems, including an inordinately high rate of سرطان, and the soil has become heavily contaminated with lead-related by-products. The Blacksmith Institute consequently declared Rudnaya Pristan, along with دالنقورسک, one of the ten worst polluted places on earth, although Anatoly Lebedev, leader of the ecological NGO BROK, disputes this inclusion.