Fire, flood or disaster · 1975
Kiviõli's ski slope of oil-shale waste
The hills northwest of Kiviõli are often called ash hills, but they are made of semi-coke, the waste of turning oil shale into oil. The old hill, 138.5 metres above sea level, grew from the 1920s until 1975. Semi-coke was first carried up by horse and later in wagons on a cable railway. Waste on the newer western hill was long washed out with water, which carried polluted seepage into the ground. In 2009 to 2013 a project of 5.9 million euros levelled and sealed that hill. The old hill is now covered in trees. A motorsport track, the Kiviõli Adventure Centre and ski runs use its slopes, and its leftover heat warms the centre.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Kiviõlist loodes asuvaid mägesid kutsutakse sageli tuhamägedeks, kuid need koosnevad poolkoksist, põlevkivi utmise jäägist. Vana mägi, 138,5 meetrit üle merepinna, kasvas 1920. aastatest kuni 1975. aastani. Poolkoksi veeti üles esmalt hobustega, hiljem köisteel liikuvate vagonettidega. Uuemal läänepoolsel mäel uhuti poolkoksi kaua veega laiali ja saastunud nõrgvesi imbus maasse. Aastatel 2009 kuni 2013 tasandati ja kaeti see mägi 5,9 miljoni euro suuruse projektiga. Vana mägi on praegu metsastunud. Selle nõlvadel on motospordikeskus, Kiviõli Seiklusturismi Keskus ja suusarajad ning mäe jääksoojus kütab keskust.