Kabwe is the second largest city in Zambia with a population of 300,000 people. It is one of six towns located near the Copperbelt, which was at one time Zambia's thriving industrial center. In 1902, several deposits of dangerous lead were discovered in the center of the town. Workers were mining and smelting up until 1994 when the government addressed the potential danger of lead. The mine and smelter is no longer in operation but it has left a city with high concentrations of lead in the soil, air and water. Christine Mupika, a local who is barefoot and doesn't have on any protective clothing, is just one of the many local searching through Kabwe's old mines and dump sites every day for metals and other minerals such as zinc and coal to sell. This high-risk task only gets her about $0.25 in U.S. currency. "If I don't work here, then I won't feed my five children at home," said Mupika, who is 52 years old, and since her husband died in 1995, she is the sole provider for her family. "Much of my income comes from coal - sometimes I can sell two bags in one day, but zinc takes a bit longer to find a customer and it is not even profitable." In 2002, a heavy raining season washed a lot of the dangerous metals into the surrounding communities, which made the lead contamination worse.
While the mine was in operation, there were no pollution laws that helped regulate emissions from the mine. Consequently, the air, soil, water, and plants were all contaminated, and over several decades, millions of humans were affected. Symptoms of lead poisoning include: vomiting, diarrhea, muscle spasms and kidney damage. In Kabwe, extremely high blood concentrations have been recorded in children and records show that average blood levels of children are very high.
There is a small waterway that runs from the mine to the center of town and it has been used to carry waste from the mine when it was operating. There are no restrictions on use of the waterway, so local children use it for bathing. In addition to that contaminated water, the soil is also contaminated with lead, which causes a significant source of contamination for the locals. Most workers and residents are exposed to toxic levels of lead by inhaling dust in these areas. Children who play in the soil and workers who dig through the mines for scraps of metal are more likely to be exposed to lead produced by the mine. Lead poisoning usually results in vomiting, kidney failure and it slows down mental development, especially in children. In some cases, there is brain damage and even death.
After decades of contamination, the clean-up strategy for Kabwe is to educate the locals on lead poisoning. They will learn simple advice to avoid poisoning, such as keeping the children from playing in the dirt and rinsing dust off of plates and food. However some areas of Kabwe are extremely polluted and entire neighborhoods may need to relocate.
In response to local initiatives taken up by the organization Pure Earth (formally known as Blacksmith Institute), the World Bank has given about $40 million under the Zambia Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP) to clean up waste and to relocate people living in extremely polluted areas of the Copper Belt region. Work is expected to commence soon and real health benefits should then begin to be seen. In the long-term, it is likely that Kabwe's mine dumps will need to be covered with concrete to prevent dust from being blown across the town, and the medical staff will need to be properly trained and equipped to deal with the Kabwe's lead pollution.
In response to local initiatives taken up by the organization Pure Earth (formally known as Blacksmith Institute), the World Bank has given about $40 million under the Zambia Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP) to clean up waste and to relocate people living in extremely polluted areas of the Copper Belt region. Work is expected to commence soon and real health benefits should then begin to be seen. In the long-term, it is likely that Kabwe's mine dumps will need to be covered with concrete to prevent dust from being blown across the town, and the medical staff will need to be properly trained and equipped to deal with the Kabwe's lead pollution.
http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/projects/display/3
http://www.irinnews.org/news/2006/11/09
http://www.irinnews.org/news/2006/11/09