Modern Ghost Town, Ordos, China

Land contamination can also create a ghost town. This is what happened to Times Beach, a suburb St. Louis, whose residents were exposed to a high level dioxins. Centralia, Pennsylvania was abandoned by many people due to a dangerous underground coal fire.
Ghost towns may also be created when land is expropriated by a government and residents are required to relocate. An excellent example is the village Tyneham in Dorset, England, acquired during World War II to build an artillery range. Another example is when NASA acquired land to build a rocket propulsion testing center. Construction the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi required acquisition a large buffer zone (approximately 34 square miles) because the loud noise and potential dangers associated with testing huge rockets. Communities were abandoned and roads became overgrown with forest flora.
Construction dams has produced ghost towns left underwater. Examples include the settlement Loyston, Tennessee, inundated by the creation Norris Dam. The town was reorganised and reconstructed on nearby higher ground. Other examples are The Lost Villages Ontario, and the hamlets Nether Hambleton and Middle Hambleton in Rutland, England, which were flooded to create Rutland Water, Europe's largest man-made reservoir. Mologa in Russia was flooded by the creation Rybinsk reservoir. Many ancient villages had to be abandoned during construction the Three Gorges Dam in China, leading to displacement many rural people. In the Costa Rican province Guanacaste, the town Arenal was rebuilt to make room for the man-made Lake Arenal. The old town now lies submerged below the lake.