Batteries like that were not produced back in the day, please read a little bit about the place. They make alot of other things other than batteries. The batteries account for about 5% of the factories production. Im not going to argue with you, everything was WAY more hazardous to the environment 30 years ago. This whole green movement is very new. Im sure any factorys emission outputs to more damage than any car would, its a factory.
It’s a Nickel mine, nickel is used for lots of things aside from batteries.