This project takes the first steps to initiate the clean up of the most polluted region of Senegal – Hann Bay. The bay wraps around the industrial zone of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is highly populated area, with local residents bathing in the water, and numerous fishing boats along the crowded shore. Industrial pollution along the banks from 1968 – 1997 has rendered the bay exceedingly toxic. This work will fund and support a group both within the Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Environment to create a credible implementation plan that will install an industrial waste treatment plan for the factories of the Hann region. Once the effluent treatment plant is in operation, work can begin to remediate legacy contamination from historical toxins.

The Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT) works in Mwanza and surrounding regions with community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the Mwanza City Council to identify problems and educate both polluters and victims of pollution about environmental laws. LEAT also conducts public interest litigation to force the cessation of polluting activities by both local factories and Mwanza City authorities. And LEAT works with surrounding towns and villages affected by polluting industries. Village and municipal leaders and residents have been educated about existing environmental laws used to combat environmental pollution, and they have been briefed on the Village Land Act of 1999 which stipulates rights of villagers regarding their land and other natural resource laws.

The Msimbazi river flows across Dar es Salaam City from the higher areas of Kisarawe in the Coastal region and discharges into the Indian Ocean. Because of its location, the river ahs been an important resource for residents in the Dar es Salaam city in various ways. Additionally, the river has been abused by different sectors as a dumping site for effluent and other pollutants produced by the city. As a consequence of the high levels of pollution, the river’s water quality has sharply decreased, and is no longer safe for consumption, domestic uses, or even irrigational uses.

Studies have indicated high levels of heavy metal in the river, run-off from local industry. Additionally, toxins in the river are also attributable to the presence of a waste dump site besides the river in Vingunguti area, which continually leaks greater and greater degrees of effluent into the water. A local abattoir located near the river is another significant source of discharge into the water. Sources of pollution from domestic households include poor sanitation systems mainly from septic tank and pit latrines that are used by about 85% of the city population. Agricultural activities using manure and fertilizers both in the basin and at the beds of the river have made the pollution problem more complicated. Ultimately, it is clear that the sources of pollution impacting the river are quite numerous and diverse.

So far, several stakeholder groups have gotten involved with this issue. Stakeholder groups, each with a particular focus, have taken the first steps towards intervening in this clear environmental hazard. For example, LEAT successfully filed a case in court to forbid the dumping of waste in the Vingunguti area. Enviropro, another Dar es Salaam based organization, worked to improve the abattoir. Such efforts are isolated however, and primarily prevent further contamination more than remediate the problem such that it currently exists. It is necessary at this point to synchronize the efforts of all interested parties, to maximize their overall effect.

The Kafue River Basin in the Chingola District, Zambia has experienced heavy polluting over the past several decades. Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is the primary source of this pollution, disposing of industrial waste products and various bio-chemical substances directly into the reservoirs. They are not the only polluters, however, as the region is home to roughly 40% of the nation’s socio-economic activity; a range of other industries are also at fault for the current state of the river basin: pulp-and-paper mills, fertilizer factories, granulation plants, abattoirs, textile manufacturers, and more. More than 93,000 tons of industrial waste are produced annually, most of which finds it way into the Kafue River. From there it flows into the Zambezi River – Africa’s fourth largest – that claims Zambia as its source and winds through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique before eventually emptying out into the Indian Ocean.

As a result of the pollution, the steadily increasing population in the Chingola District face severe water shortages. The full extent of the environmental impact has not yet been determined, but because of significant habitat destruction and land/soil degradation, the cost to local ecosystems is likely quite high. The color of the brilliantly blue Kafue River has slowly turned green. Indigenous fish have developed an unusual and unpleasant odor. Aquatic weeds dumped by some facilities into the river system, combined with nitrogen and phosphate waste from other facilities, together degrade biodiversity.

Both aquatic life and human health are in danger. High incidences of environmentally mediated disease, such as gastro-enteritis, intestinal worms, and diarrhea diseases mostly in children have been reported from communities around the river and have been linked to drinking water from certain parts of the river. The raw sewer pollution of Kafue River could inadvertently lead to outbreaks of epidemics like cholera.

This project was initiated in late 2006 in dialogue between Blacksmith Institute and the Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau. The key problem identified was the contamination of local water supplies, high in the headwaters of major river systems, by small abandoned metal mines and processing facilities. The local pollution problems are severe and, because heavy metals do not degrade in the environment, erosion of these materials adds to the cumulative pollution load on the river system. The objective was to develop practical approaches for a typical case, in collaboration with the Yunnan and local EPBs, which would be a model for other mountain villages with similar problems. The project was structured to provide direction and momentum for a wider effort by the Province to address mining pollution and water contamination challenges.

The focus of the work is on health impact for humans, since these sites discharge toxic metal contamination into local waterways that are sources of drinking water for local populations.

A once-secret manufacturing center of the Soviet Union's defense industry, Dzerzhinsk (population 300,000) has hosted many chemical factories, including production facilities for Sarin and VX nerve gas. Lead additives for gasoline, mustard gas, munitions, and other highly-polluting products can also claim this city as their birthplace. While many of these factories are now closed, the chemical industry still employs over a quarter of local residents. The groundwater and soil around the city, about 250 miles east of Moscow, remain severely polluted with phenol, arsenic, dioxins, heavy metals, and a host of other toxins. Indeed, a dominant ecological landmark in the area is the “White Sea”, a 100-acre-wide lake of toxic sludge discharged from nearby factories.

Clearly, Dzerzhinsk faces huge challenges in managing this legacy of toxic wastes. It holds the ignominious title of "The Most Chemically Polluted Town" in the world. Greenpeace claims that the average life expectancy of city residents may have shrunk to a mere 45 years. The city's annual death rate, 17 per 1,000 people, is much higher than Russia's national average of 14 per 1,000. And, according to researchers at the Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Hygiene and Occupational Pathology, rates of reproductive health disturbances affecting women and fetuses, as well as rates of respiratory and pulmonary diseases in children, are dangerously high. In study after study, the health impacts of these chemicals continue to dampen enthusiasm and drain resources needed for economic and social recovery in Dzerzhinsk.

While there are many pollution-related issues that cry out for investment and remediation in the city, water quality is of paramount importance. The Dzerzhinsk Committee of Environmental Control, a local government agency dedicated to finding solutions for pollution-related problems, has highlighted the degree to which the quality of drinking water in some residential areas of the city, damaged by years of discharge of as many as 150 separate toxic chemicals, does not come close to meeting safety standards. Despite this assessment, the city still draws its drinking water from the same aquifers abused by toxic wastes and unused products over many years.

One area of particular concern is the residential sector of Gavrilovka (population 1,000), about 2 miles away from a former tetraethyl lead production facility. Environmental testing conducted in 2002 by a Russian laboratory identified elevated levels of metals (e.g., lead, arsenic) and toxic organic compounds in the groundwater that serves as the primary source for residents' drinking water. Industrial wastewater discharges and solid waste leaching were identified as primary sources of groundwater contamination.

A once-secret manufacturing center of the Soviet Union's defense industry located 450 kilometers southeast of Moscow, Dzerzhinsk (population 300,000) has hosted many chemical factories, including production facilities for Sarin and VX nerve gas. Lead additives for gasoline, mustard gas, munitions, and other highly-polluting products can also claim this city as their birthplace. While many of these factories are now closed, the chemical industry still employs over a quarter of local residents. The groundwater and soil around the city, about 250 miles east of Moscow, remain severely polluted with phenol, arsenic, dioxins, heavy metals, and a host of other toxins. Indeed, a dominant ecological landmark in the area is the “White Sea”, a 100-acre-wide lake of toxic sludge discharged from nearby factories.

Clearly, Dzerzhinsk faces huge challenges in managing this legacy of toxic wastes. It holds the ignominious title of "The Most Chemically Polluted Town" in the world. Greenpeace claims that the average life expectancy of city residents may have shrunk to a mere 45 years. The city's annual death rate, 17 per 1,000 people, is much higher than Russia's national average of 14 per 1,000. And, according to researchers at the Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Hygiene and Occupational Pathology, rates of reproductive health disturbances affecting women and fetuses, as well as rates of respiratory and pulmonary diseases in children, are dangerously high. In study after study, the health impacts of these chemicals continue to dampen enthusiasm and drain resources needed for economic and social recovery in Dzerzhinsk.

While there are many pollution-related issues that cry out for investment and remediation in the city, water quality is of paramount importance. The Dzerzhinsk Committee of Environmental Control, a local government agency dedicated to finding solutions for pollution-related problems, has highlighted the degree to which the quality of drinking water in some residential areas of the city, damaged by years of discharge of as many as 150 separate toxic chemicals, does not come close to meeting safety standards. Despite this assessment, the city still draws its drinking water from the same aquifers abused by toxic wastes and unused products over many years.

One area of particular concern is the residential sector of Pyra (population 4,000) where groundwater is also used as a major source of drinking water. The town is surrounded by swamps and the old local water treatment facility does not provide even an adequate level of groundwater cleanup. Drinking water tested was found to have ferrous-organic and fecal bacteria levels well above accepted safety standards. Compounding these problems, the aquifers that supply Piri also feed into groundwater that affects larger population centers as far away as St. Petersburg.

The Narol Industrial area in Gujarat hosts a mix of textile & textile printing (cotton & polyester) industries. Each industry has its own treatment plant from where the wastewater is discharged to the sewage treatment plant. The processed effluent is then dumped into the Sabarmati River which flows for 48 kilometers before reaching the sea. There is no significant intake along this river stretch for potable water.

Howrah foundry cluster is one of the oldest and largest cast iron foundry centers in the country, accounting for around 20% of the total castings produced in the country. A number of these units were closed down by the State Pollution Control Board. Though the industry is trying to clean up its own act by sponsoring research into cleaner technologies, 80% are small-scale operations and may find it difficult to do so without outside assistance, both technical and financial.

A 55 kilometer long effluent canal carries treated wastewater from the Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) of three large-scale industries viz., Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals, IOCL Gujarat Refinery and Indian Petrochemicals Limited. It flows from Vadodara towards the sea coast. Water from the canal is used to irrigate farms whose produce is then sold in the Baroda markets. An estimated 120 million liters of treated wastewater annually moves through this canal.

The Amlakhadi River is a tributary of the Narmada River. The Bharuch Enviro Aqua Infrastructure Ltd. (BEAIL) collects waste from three Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) industrial estates: Ankleshwar GIDC, Jhagadia GIDC and Panoli GIDC and discharges it into the Amlakhadi, which flows for about ten kilometers before converging with the Narmada.

The Coca-Cola bottling plant at Plachimada is located along the Palakkad-Meenakshipuram-Pollchi road, around three kilometers to the north of the Meenkara dam reservoir and a few hundred meters west of the Kambalathara and Vengalakkayam storage reservoirs.

The bottling plant started production in 1998 on a 42- acre plot in violation of the Kerala Land Utilisation Act, 1967, intended to prevent the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Limited (HCBL) has faced a host of complaints and agitation from local people over water and soil pollution. The issue has been raised in the media with a focus on depletion of water and its contamination. Test results of the well water and the sludge have proved the presence of contamination.

Ratlam is an important industrial town in Madhya Pradesh with distillery, dye and pharmaceutical industries. Pollution studies conducted in the Ratlam area show that the groundwater in part of Ratlam town and about 12 villages namely Doshigem, Ghatala, Bajankhedi, Jadwasa Kala and Khurd etc., has become red in color due to discharges from Sajjan Chemicals. The groundwater in these areas is also high in salinity. Sajjan Chemicals, Jayant Vitamins, Stellar Drugs, Alcohol Plant and IPCA Laboratory have been blamed for the increased salinity although all the industries except the latter two have shut down. Shutting down the industries has not solved the pollution problem as hazardous wastes lie in the open. In the factory premises of Sajjan Chemicals, three to four tanks filled with effluents remain untreated.

Parwanoo has rapidly developed into a pulsating industrial town within the last few years. Industrial units in the area directly discharge their untreated effluents into the Kaushalya River, which is a primary drinking water resource. Toxic fumes emitted by industries is also a growing problem.

The golden corridor in Gujarat extends from Vapi in the south to Ahmedabad in the north. There are over 50 industrial estates in this region, most house over a thousand industries (some being chemical estates) and many are spread over a thousand acres.

Cambodia is undergoing rapid development and subsequent population and industrial growth. Air quality is deteriorating as a result of industrial and handicraft processes as well as fossil fuel combustion. As of 2004, air quality monitoring activities were inadequate as there was no established technical guideline. While environmental conditions and human health are being threatened by poor air quality, setting technical monitoring guidelines was of utmost importance. Blacksmith Institute worked with the Cambodia Ministry of Environment's Department of Pollution Control on setting guidelines to help governments derive legally enforceable air quality standards. Moreover, the organizations devised action plans to carry out local control measures and to advise environmental health authorities and professionals.

Many scientific studies have linked breathing polluted air full of particulate matter to a series of significant health problems, including: aggravated asthma, coughing, painful breathing, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, and premature death. Acceptance and promotion of these guidelines was thus an extremely important step in developing a full air quality monitoring and enforcement system in Cambodia.