World Response
2007 World's Worst Polluted Places Report Has Polluters and Governments Responding
Blacksmith Institute released its second annual report `The World's Worst Polluted Places' on September 12, 2007 in partnership with Green Cross Switzerland. Two joint press conferences were held to reveal this year's `Top Ten' and `Dirty Thirty' lists of polluted places. The report was picked up and distributed by over 40 international media outlets including the BBC, Reuters, the Financial Times, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Forbes, Le Monde, Le Temps, and Swissinfo. Local media outlets with distribution close to the sites featured in the report such as Kommersant, the Zambia Daily Mail, the Hindustan Times, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer have generated intense pressure on polluters and policy-makers in these highly toxic areas.
As a result of the media attention, President and General Manager of Doe Run Peru, the US-based owner of the actively polluting metallurgical facility in La Oroya, Peru, has invited Blacksmith Institute to visit the city of La Oroya and surrounding communities. Norilsk Nickel in Russia, responsible for producing a fifth of the world's nickel and emitting tons of highly polluting compounds, has contacted Blacksmith Institute to partner on a remediation project in order to tackle the legacy pollution issues.
In Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, local and national officials as well as community members have protested the listing of their city in the Top Ten. They have invited Blacksmith Institute to visit the area to do a full site assessment. A similar response has followed from industry in Vapi, India. Also in India, the Mahad Manufacturers Association has sent a letter to Blacksmith Institute stating that the Mahad Industrial Development Corporation and associated companies have taken several steps to clean up the hazardous waste in the industrial estate. The letter noted that health impact has been limited and water quality is being monitored by the local pollution control board. The Mahad Industrial Estate was named in the 2007 Dirty Thirty listing.
