We’ve got some beachfront property for you in California. Only $99 down. The sunsets are divine, there’s plenty of solitude, and the local bartender is a real character. In the 1950s, Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis spent time here.

What’s the catch? The place is called the Salton Sea. It’s about two-and-a-half hours from Los Angeles and it’s also an environmental disaster in the making. The Salton Sea (it’s actually a lake) sits out in the desert past Palm Springs, about 200 feet below sea level. It was created when engineers diverted water from the Colorado River back in 1905. They were trying to help encourage farming in the area. Since then runoff water from agriculture has poured in, carrying all the lovely, and not so lovely, chemicals that are used to make things grow faster and scare away the bugs. The chemicals settle to the bottom of the lake. Now, with California’s drought, the water is being cut-off. When the lakebed dries up, the bad stuff flies around as dust. Harmful dust. Oh, and the lake happens to lie right on top of the San Andreas fault.

But the land is cheap and a ton of people in the country can’t afford a house. So bam. Real estate boom. The American Dream. On the cheap and dirty.