Norilsk, Russia

The Russian city, Norilsk is one of the worst polluted areas in the world with 1% of the worlds sulphur dioxide emissions originating here. This is down to a number of reasons, some much more serious than others yet they have all contributed to the problems they face today. The city has an average population of about 175,000 people making it the second largest city north of the Arctic Circle. The area surrounding the city is a treeless tundra; this is where there is intense mining.

The mining is by the company MMC Norilsk nickel they will mine under the city for its nickel deposits supplying much of Russia’s nickel; this has led to the smelting of the nickel in a nearby factory which has caused much pollution with the usual occurrence of smog and acid rain. Recently the company has signed a protocol of cooperation with regard to environmental safety, just as Norilsk try to build a new better environment.

Dzerzhinsk, Russia

According to the Dzerzhinsk committee of environmental control, the drinking water quality in some residential areas of the city does not meet minimal safety standards. The groundwater in this area was poisoned by Dzershinsk’s Cold War-era factories, chemicals and toxic residuals from those manufacturing sites are present in both ground and surface water. According to figures from the environmental agency, prior to 1998 almost 30,000 tons of chemical waste was disposed of haphazardly around the area for every year, with 190 separate chemicals being released into the groundwater. The city draws its drinking water from the same aquifers into which old wastes and unused products were pumped.

Following a baseline research project in 2004, Blacksmith, in cooperation with the local government funded the installation in 2006 of a water treatment system in the village of Pyra, a settlement whose groundwater is highly polluted yet remains the sole source of drinking water. In the longer term, Blacksmith hopes to support local groups and authorities in the design of a large-scale remediation and pollution migration of the area.  

Chernobyl, Ukraine

On the 26^th of April 1986 there was a meltdown at the nuclear factory in Chernobyl; an explosion at the factory released a large toxin gas into the atmosphere around Europe, poisoning many habitats and the people of Europe. This lead to the immediate evacuation of the local town, 75,000 people from their homes relocating them in a safer area around Ukraine. Now all of the towns surrounding the factory have been empty since the disaster and will remain to be for many more decades as the factory is still leaking out radiation into the surrounding area. In 8 countries across Europe it was found that these Gamma radiations had affected many people and was influencing Cancer and respiratory diseases leaving many people exposed and at high risk.

La Oroya, Peru

This area is a mining town in the Peruvian Andes which is in the externality filed of a poly-metallic smelter; this smelter has released many toxins polluting the town’s air leaning many families exposed. The plant has been responsible for much of the lead poisoning in the children’s blood with 99% of the children within the town will have high levels of lead poisoning that exceed the usual limits (triple WHO’s limits).

The results of lead poisoning will usually be quite harmful to the mental development of the children; however they are solving these problems with the clean-up of the soil in the surrounding area, the company has promised to redesign their machines and have invested $400 million in pollution controls reducing their emissions.

Haina Pollution

Haina Pollution

Bojas de Haina is commonly referred to as the ‘Dominican Chernobyl’. According to the UN it has the highest lead contamination in the world. The contamination was believed to have been caused by a nearby automobile battery recycling smelter called Baterias Meteoro, the slag from the furnaces leaked into the town’s soil, water and food supplies leaving the town with the worst lead pollution the world has ever had.

Health Effects

The health effects from the poisoning were...

·         Neurological damage

·         Reduced IQ

·         Anemia

·         Nerve disorder

·         Loss of memory

·         Concentration infertility

·         Increased blood pressure

·         Chronic headaches

Clean-up plan

The IA coalition, government, academics and NGO’s came together to devise a careful clean-up plan in which they moved the smelter to a more secluded spot with new safety regulations in which a law stated how international communities must pay attention to the full circle of the disposal of the materials.

No deaths were reported states the Dominican Republic government however there was a large amount of permanent damage to the children of Haina and the town is still in its clean-up process, dealing with small pockets of lead poisoning.