Varga and more than 1,000 other local residents sued the former Metalloglobus battery disposal factory nearly 10 years ago, claiming it was responsible for tainting 200,000 square metres (2.15 million square feet) of nearby land with lead, copper and other heavy metals that leaked deep into the soil. The cancer rate in the capital's 22nd District, where Varga lives, is officially three times the national average...some are questioning how Hungary succeeded in completing environment negotiations with the European Union, which it hopes to join by 2004.