Influencers everywhere are generally more concerned with style over substance. Eastern European influencers in particular seem more concerned with style over having their entire epidermis become infected and inflamed by noxious chemicals or radiation poisoning. According to the New York Post, there’s a lake in Siberia that takes on an unearthly aquamarine color and Instagram influencers are flocking to it to get the shot. Only problem is, the lake isn’t actually a lake, it’s a man-made toxic waste dump and the water is that color because of the ash and chemicals dumped into it by the local coal plant. And the coal plant has issued a warning to Instagrammers to stay way from the water. Nethertheless, they persisted.

NYP reports:

The lake, dubbed the Novosibirsk Maldives, is used to dump ash from a nearby coal plant, and contains chemicals that can cause allergic reactions, according to a statement posted to Russian social network VKontakte by the Siberian Generating Company.

“In the last week, our ash dump of the Novosibirsk TEZ-5 has become the star of social networks,” the statement said. “But you CANNOT swim in the ash dump. Its water has high alkaline environment. This is due to the fact that calcium salts and other metal oxides are dissolved in it. Skin contact with such water may cause an allergic reaction!” “THEREFORE, WE ASK YOU VERY MUCH THAT IN YOUR QUEST FOR A SELFIE YOU DON’T FALL DOWN INTO THE ASH DUMP!” the statement continued. “THIS IS THE BIGGEST RISK.”

I’m not sure if the ALL CAPS emphasis is from the NYP or the coal plant, but either way, I think they mean business. The saddest part of this is that the lake kind of looks like a toxic waste dump. If you’ve ever seen pictures of (or been to) Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, or any other of the thousands of glacial lakes the world has to offer, you’ve seen what a bunch of minerals and sediment can do to the color of the water. Many of those lakes are surrounded by nature’s bounty like mountains, trees, and wildlife. The Novosibirsk Maldives, not so much. It kind of looks like someplace you might dump a body.

Since the only real danger is falling in and getting a chemical burn, there’s really no harm being done. It’s not like when thousands of influencers came to California to take pictures of the Super Bloom and trampled all the flowers. Or the time Miley Cyrus climbed a Joshua Tree and angered the park staff. Or that time Justin Bieber caused more harm to Iceland than the 2008 financial crisis. The Novosibirsk Maldives are already a dump. Literally. But it’s all hashtags and emojis until somebody gets splashed in the face and loses an eye.

Pic: Instagram