ELOI

 

Working with Communities to Mitigate Environmental Pollution

In March 2010, the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) discovered an outbreak of lead poisoning in remote villages in Zamfara State, Nigeria. More than 17,000 people were severely poisoned and 400-500 children died as a result of soil lead contamination associated with artisanal gold mining/processing in residential compounds. International organizations collaborated with Nigerian health authorities and local civil and traditional governments to provide emergency medical, environmental, technical, and public health response.

Remediation activities, conducted in three phases from May 2010 to July 2013, were modeled on Idaho/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Superfund” protocols. Post-cleanup activities included medical treatment in MSF-run clinics, monitoring the sustainability of the remediation, and implementation of safer mining practices. The epidemic has been characterized as unprecedented, and the ensuing cleanup one of the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken by an African government. 

Remediating the villages presented numerous resource, logistic, cultural, institutional, and technical challenges. The remote area is difficult to access and has little infrastructure. Village life is ruled by overlapping civil, tribal, and Sharia governments, exhibits gender-segregated social structure, suffers numerous endemic diseases with limited healthcare, and a workforce dependent on primitive tools and labor practices. The cleanup evolved from an emergency response initially developed and directed largely by international personnel from TerraGraphics (TG) to a multi-disciplinary program carried out by Nigerian federal, state, and local governments employing village workers.

for more information check this webbsite: www.terragraphicsinternational.org/#!nigeria/c1jis