Key Programs

Blacksmith is currently building a proposed $500 million public health fund to fight and eliminate legacy pollution in the developing world, saving millions of lives.

While toxic pollution has almost been eradicated in the developed world, it is a growing problem in poorer countries. Very little has been done to solve this life-threatening problem. The HPF will be the first and only toxic cleanup program to be conducted on a global scale.

GLOBAL INVENTORY PROJECT (GIP)

Blacksmith is building the first comprehensive global inventory of the world's worst polluted places with human health impact. Investigative teams are currently walking the earth, assessing a total of about 3,000 polluted sites in more than 80 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The GIP, which builds on Blacksmith's existing database, will rank sites using the Blacksmith Scale. This ranking will guide and prioritize cleanup under the Health and Pollution Fund. The GIP is scheduled for completion in 2010. Nominate a polluted site.

LEAD POISONING AND CAR BATTERIES PROJECT (formerly known as the Initiative for Responsible Battery Recycling)

Blacksmith is the leading organization working to clean up lead pollution caused by the improper recycling of used car batteries. This is one of the worst pollution problems in the developing world, one that is growing with consumer demand for cars. Lead poisons over 12 million people, mainly women and children. It is the most common environmental disease among children living in developing countries.

Projects are ongoing in Senegal, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and India.

ARTISANAL GOLD MINING (MERCURY POISONING)

UNIDO (The United Nations Industrial Development Organization) estimates that artisanal gold mining results in the release of an estimated 1,000 tons of toxic mercury per year, which constitutes about 30 percent of the world's mercury emissions. At least a quarter of the world's total gold supply comes from artisanal gold mining.

Some 15 million gold miners, including 4.5 million women and 600,000 children, are poisoned by direct contact with toxic mercury. In addition, mercury rises and travels, dropping into rivers, oceans and seas, contaminating seafood far and wide.

Blacksmith is working with UNIDO's Global Mercury Project in Senegal, Indonesia, Mozambique, and Cambodia.

About Blacksmith's Programs

Blacksmith works in highly polluted locations in the developing world with the intent of mitigating human health risks from pollution. Solutions to pollution problems vary according to each site and include factors such as:

type of pollution (air, water, groundwater, soil, etc.)
toxins involved (particularly their potency and longevity)
extent of the contamination
whether it is active or "legacy" (abandoned or ownerless sites)
variety of local geographical and political factors

With the long-term aim of banishing this problem throughout the globe, Blacksmith supports local action to deal with highly polluted places. In doing this, we have adopted a range of solutions that fit both with the requirements of each class of sites and with Blacksmith's own limited resources.

In general, our solutions follow one of the following paths:

Small scale clean-ups. Contamination is legacy, and clean-up is not too expensive (less than $100,000). Blacksmith will provide technical support and clean-up funds, usually requiring a match in funding from the local community. Projects are usually completed within 12 months. Often help to catalyze further action.
Large-scale clean-ups. Contamination is legacy, but scale and costs are very high. Blacksmith will support and fund a local coalition or stakeholder group to survey the issue and develop an action plan for remediation. The coalition is led by a local champion, and includes representatives from agencies that might provide long term funding, including the national government or international agencies such as the World Bank or Asian Development Bank. Often, these coalitions are the first real attempt to initiate remediation and they work to achieve the needed multi-million dollar project funding from other agencies.
Active sites. These are locations where the pollution is on-going, usually from specific industrial or mining activities. Blacksmith will fund a health impact analysis, in conjunction with all parties (including the owner, if possible). This review is then presented to the owner, with the intent of persuasion to reduce pollutants accordingly. Other more aggressive avenues are pursued only after this cooperative approach has been fully explored.
Complex ("Multi-Modal") sites. These are areas that have mixes of legacy and active pollution, often with many different sources. Blacksmith will fund a coalition of all stakeholders, led by a local champion, to design an overall strategy and specific action plans for solution. Again, national or international players are a part of the necessary mix , as they can bring large-scale funding to the table.

Brief summaries of successes in following this strategy can be found here.