Millions of tons of contaminated coal ash from the Nikola Tesla Coal Power Plant lie in a vast shallow pit, 100 meters from the Sava River, which flows into the Danube twelve kilometers from this point. This site is one of the highly ranked “black spots” on Serbia’s polluters list. According to some measurements, the air above of city has unhealthy levels of carbon black (lampblack) for as much as a third of the year.

The toxic dump spreads over an area of 500 acres. Water sprinklers attempt to prevent the contaminated ash from spreading but are not very successful on a windy day. Lead and cadmium levels are found 2-10 times higher than permissible levels in the lower Danube. Cadmium levels peaked at the confluence of the Sava and Danube according to one study. Extremely high levels of the pesticide Atrazine in the Sava River prompted an emergency there in 2003.

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.

Mikocheni, a neighborhood in Dar es Salaam, is home to four heavily polluted streams that run directly into the Indian Ocean. Untreated industrial and domestic waste is dumped into the waterways upstream, or into storm drains. Environmental Management Trust (EMT) is undertaking a project to monitor and stop this pollution of marine habitats and breaches. The project goals are to make wastewater treatment mandatory for all polluting industries, to stop residential houses from releasing waste from septic tanks into streams, and to ensure that sewers, storm drains and pumping stations are properly maintained to prevent leaks into the stream.

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.

Zambia is a land-locked country in Central/Southern Africa with a population of about 10 million people. About 1.25 million people inhabit the capital, Lusaka, with another 2 million in the northern Copperbelt region. Major pollution-related problems are due to mining and industrial waste. In 2001, Blacksmith Institute helped to found ARE, an NGO focusing on a heavily polluted industrial area on the Kafue River. The Kafue River, part of the Zambezi basin, is a source of potable water for over forty percent of Zambia's population. It is also host to wildlife and birds. For decades, industries such as copper mines, metallurgical plants, textile plants, fertilizer factories, sugar processing plants, cement factories, various agricultural activities, and the Kafue Sewage Treatment Plant (KSTP) have polluted the river. Mineral deposits, chemicals, and suspended solids have led to overgrowth of aquatic weeds, choking river life. The continuous discharge of raw sewage into the Kafue River from the KSTP has contributed to the steady supply of nutrients (ortho-phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, etc.) ensuring the proliferation of various types of weeds, like the Salvina molesta, thereby causing eutrophication. 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.

Bata Tannery uses various chemicals in tanning animal skins. Amongst these chemicals is chromium sulfate, which can easily be converted to either hexavalent or trivalent chromium. The effect of these chemicals on human and aquatic life is potentially lethal. Equally, the yeast production from Lee Yeast results in high concentrations of both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the wastewater. The net effect is the reduction in the river system's oxygen concentration, leading to toxic anaerobic conditions.

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.

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.

Artisanal, or small scale gold mining (also called ASM) is one of the most significant sources of mercury release into the environment in the developing world, with at least a quarter of the world’s total gold supply coming from such sources. ASM miners combine mercury with gold-carrying silt. The gold and mercury combine to form an amalgam, making recovery of the gold easier. The amalgam is subsequently heated with blow torches or over an open flame so that the mercury burns off, and gold is left at a purity of 70 to 80 percent. The gaseous mercury is subsequently inhaled by the miners, or by their immediate family, including their children. Mercury which is not inhaled during the amalgamation process settles into the surrounding environment, or circulates globally at regional and global scales for future deposition far from the site, where it is absorbed and processed by a variety of living organisms. As a consequence of its misuse, mercury amalgamation results in the discharge of an estimated 1000 tons of mercury per annum which represents about 30% of the world’s anthropogenic mercury releases. It is estimated that between 10 and 15 million artisanal and small scale gold miners worldwide, including 4.5 million women and 600,000 children1. This process transforms elemental mercury into methylmercury. Methylmercury is one of the most toxic organic compounds and a powerful neurotoxin that works its way up the food chain through bioaccumulation. According to UNIDO, as much as 95 percent of all mercury used in ASM mining is released into the environment, constituting a danger on all fronts – economic, environmental and human health. There are a number of cleaner technology alternatives to current methods of mercury amalgamation. The use of retorts during the mercury burn-off stage is a simple and cost-effective way to decrease the occupational exposure to mercury and minimize its release into the environment. Retorts allow for the efficient capture and reuse of mercury. 1 Veiga, M.M., Baker, R. (2004). Protocols for Environmental and Health Assessment of Mercury Released by Artisanal and Small Scale Miners, Report to the Global Mercury Project: Removal of Barriers to Introduction of Cleaner Artisanal Gold Mining and Extraction Technologies, GEF/UNDP/UNIDO, 170p.

Guiyu is a cluster of five villages in the Guangdong province in southeast China. It has gained notoriety as a dumping ground for discarded computer hardware. Computer components are melted to extract precious metals such as gold and platinum and leftover waste burned or dumped openly or in the Lianjiang River. Environmentalists estimate there to be 2,500 computer waste businesses in the region employing as many as 100,000 people.

Huaxi town is located in the southwestern section of Dongyang City. Since 2001, the Huaxi government has been leasing land for the Huaxi Industrial Park spread over 1,000 hectares with thirteen chemical industries. On April 1, 2005, the Dongyang Municipal Government ordered the closure of these thirteen industries as a result of intense public protest over pollution stemming from them. There are reports of drums of chemicals being abandoned inside the factory premises and untreated wastewater being covered with concrete slabs.

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Beginning in 1997, scientists were able to document the alarming fact that throughout the 1950s and ‘60s chemical weapons were dismantled, without proper environmental oversight, 10km northwest of the town of Leonidovka, in the Russian state of Penza Oblast. The polluted area covers 65,800 acres of forest, where the plantlife, soil, and water all tested positive for arsenic, dioxins, and heavy metals at levels that were hazardous to human health. Locals also fear that toxins have penetrated into groundwater supplies and can be pushed back to the surface after heavy rains.

The smelter town of Karabash lies in the Chelyabinskaya region of the south Urals, 1,300 kilometers southeast of Moscow. The town originally developed due to large copper deposits and in 1910 a smelter was built here specializing in the production of 'blister copper'. Immense sulfur dioxide emissions, fall-out of metal-rich particulates and mounds of black slag are thought to be responsible for higher incidences of birth defects, skin diseases and internal organ failure among the residents of this town.

Volkhov is a small town on Lake Lagoda, in Karelia Province. Russia's first aluminum processing facility is located here. The plants were built in 1931 to take advantage of local bauxite from the Tikhvin deposit and to utilise the capacity of the first hydroelectric power station in the USSR, built at the same time.

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.

Beginning in 1997, scientists were able to document the alarming fact that throughout the 1950s and ‘60s chemical weapons were dismantled, without proper environmental oversight, 10km northwest of the town of Leonidovka, in the Russian state of Penza Oblast. The polluted area covers 65,800 acres of forest, where the plantlife, soil, and water all tested positive for arsenic, dioxins, and heavy metals at levels that were hazardous to human health. Locals also fear that toxins have penetrated into groundwater supplies and can be pushed back to the surface after heavy rains.

Copsa Mica was one of Europe’s most polluted towns in the 1990s and remains the most polluted town in Romania to this day. Two factories Carbosin that produced carbon black and Sometra, a non-ferrous metallurgical smelter were behind this pollution. Carbosin shut down in 1993 but the smelter is still operational.

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.

Tarapur Industrial Estate in Maharashtra has been identified as a problem area due to severe pollution from chemical industries. Despite the installation of a common effluent treatment plant and drainage to carry and dispose of effluents safely, hazardous waste is still being dumped illegally and there is poor maintenance of infrastructure causing pollution. It has been referred to as one of Maharashtra’s worst industrial estates and the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee has estimated there to be approximately 40,000 tons of hazardous wastes dumped here.

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.

Ever since 1840, when coal was discovered in Singrauli, the area's development has revolved around exploiting this natural resource. Singrauli has been nicknamed India’s “Energy Capital”. The five super thermal power plants in the Singrauli area, which supply 10% of India’s power, are responsible for 16% or 10 tons per annum of total mercury pollution through power generation. According to ToxicLinks.org, Singrauli presently accounts for 10% of total Indian and 0.3% of global carbon dioxide emission, a major reason for global warming.

A widely cited but unpublished study by Electricité de France reveals that Singrauli's thermal power plants release about 720 kilograms of mercury per year. The UN cited an Indian Central Pollution Control board estimate that "17 percent of power plant mercury emissions are from the Singrauli region." Fly ash, the byproduct of coal combustion, is also a significant problem. The coal-burning power plants release about six million tons of fly ash a year, making land unfit for cultivation. In parts of Singrauli, the fly ash lies in piles five feet thick.

Singrauli is one of the twenty-two critically polluted areas identified by the Central Pollution Control Board.

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.

Significant industrial waste is haphazardly dumped into the Meycauayan River, a source of domestic and agricultural water for 250,000 people living in and around Manila. Substantial contamination comes from small scale lead recycling facilities along the river at Marilao, and from the many tanneries that dump untreated hexavalent chromium into the river. This river also feeds directly into the Manila Bay, and its effluents contaminate shellfish in commercial fishing areas.

Map Ta Phut is a 176,000-acre industrial zone located in the province of Rayong, about 137 miles by road from Bangkok. Originally a sleepy fishing and agricultural community on the Gulf of Thailand, its bay made it attractive for docking deep-sea vessels used in the transport of natural gas. In the 70's, Map Ta Phut was designated by the government as a future home for Thailand's petrochemical and heavy industries. Today, there are around 104 factories in the area.

UNIDO estimates that mercury amalgamation from this kind of gold mining results in the release of an estimated 1,000 tons of mercury per year, which constitutes about 30 percent of the world’s anthropogenic mercury emissions. It is estimated that between 10 and 15 million artisanal and small-scale gold miners worldwide, including 4.5 million women and 600,000 children [1]. According to UNIDO, as much as 95 percent of all mercury used in artisanal gold mining is released into the environment, creating a danger on all fronts—economic, environmental and human health (2005). Covered by the 2008 World’s Worst Polluted Places Report, ASM still threatens today’s world environment and public health.