The best of the worst is still horrible [correction appended]

I spend some of my time working with citizen groups from contaminated communities. There are a frightful number of them in the United States, as there are everywhere. The stories are frequently heartbreaking and the polluters heartless. So it's good to remind myself that things could be worse. A lot worse. In fact the US is much better off than most other countries in the world, including European countries when it comes to a polluted environment. The main reason government environmental protection regulations. I'm not saying they have done the job they need to do, and under the Bush administration we have been backsliding. So I'm not saying we've done enough. On the contrary, I am saying something quite different. These regulations work and they need to be made stronger. Much stronger. The strongest argument for the importance of effective government enforced environmental protection comes when you see what it would be like if it didn't exist. You can do that by visiting The Blacksmith Institute's list of the Ten World's Worst Polluted Places. Boingboing (hat tip) did number one on the list, Sumgayit, Azerbaijan. The other nine are Linfen, China; Tianying, China; Sukinda, India; Vapi, India; La Oroya, Peru; Dzerzhinsk, Russia; Norilsk, Russia; Chernobyl, Ukraine; Kabwe, Zambia. None are in the US. I'll pick the last one on the list (the best of the worst, Kabwe, Zambia:

Potentially Affected People: 255,000

Type of Pollutants: Lead, cadmium

Source of Pollution: Lead mining and processing

The Problem:

Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia, is located about 150 kilometres north of the nation's capital, Lusaka, and is one of six towns in the Copperbelt, once Zambia's thriving industrial base. In 1902, rich deposits of lead were discovered there. Mining and smelting commenced soon after and ran almost continuously until 1994 without addressing the potential dangers of lead contamination. The mine and smelter are no longer operating but have left a city poisoned by debilitating concentrations of lead dust in the soil and by metals in the water. In one study, the dispersal in soils of lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc extended over a 20 km radius at levels much higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

A small waterway runs from the mine to the center of town and has been used to carry waste from the once active smelter. There are no safeguards or restrictions on use of the waterway and local children use it for bathing. In addition to contaminated water, dry, dusty, lead-laced soils near workers. home are a significant source of contamination for the locals. Most workers and residents are exposed to toxic levels of lead through inhaling dust in these areas.

Health Impacts:

In some neighbourhoods in Kabwe, blood concentrations of 200 µg/dl or more have been recorded in children and records show average blood levels of children range between 50 and 100 µg/dl. On average, children's blood lead levels in Kabwe are 5 to 10 times the permissible EPA maximum and in many cases are close to those regarded as potentially fatal. Children who play in the soil and young men who scavenge the mines for scraps of metal are most susceptible to lead produced by the mine and smelter.

Status of Clean-Up Activity:

After decades of widespread contamination, the clean-up strategy for Kabwe is complex and implementation is in its primary stages. Blacksmith has helped by supporting a local NGO (KERF) to bring information and educational services on lead poisoning into the local communities. Measures include simple, concrete advice to avoid poisoning, such as prohibiting children from playing in the dirt and rinsing dust from plates and food. However some areas of Kabwe require drastic remediation and entire neighbourhoods may need to relocate. (Blacksmith Institute)

Remember, this is the best of the Ten Worst. I looked at the team of Technical Advisors the Blacksmith Institute used for the selection and I know five of them personally. They are excellent scientists who don't minimize the problems we have in the US. All of them know those problems first hand and their seriousness. They know that there remains much to be done to reduce the unnecessary premature disease, disability and death caused when we don't enforce and strengthen our own environmental protections.

But if you want to see what would happen if we didn't have them at all, take a look at the these ten beauty spots. Then get out there to work to make our inadequate protections better. We are way ahead of most places but far from where we need to be.

Clarification: Oh, my. Commenter ray (thanks!) notes an embarrassing oversight on my part. The list of the ten worst is in alphabetical order! This means Zambia isn't necessarily the best of the worst. It is only the last (alphabetically) of the worst. My face is red. Live and learn. In any event, the main point of the post still holds, even if the title doesn't.