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Two Pesticide Cleanups and a Wedding in Tajikistan, Near the Afghan Border

Two Pesticide Cleanups and a Wedding in Tajikistan, Near the Afghan Border

Jun 17 , 2019

In Tajikistan, in an area near the Afghan border lined with checkpoints and guards with guns, a Pure Earth team conducting pesticide cleanups was showered with hospitality. They were welcomed in home after home and were even invited to a.

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Toxic Legacy At 10th Century Armenian Historic Site Comes To An End With Pure Earth Cleanup

Toxic Legacy At 10th Century Armenian Historic Site Comes To An End With Pure Earth Cleanup

Dec 17 , 2018

As the first Christian country worldwide, Armenia is known for it’s beautiful, historic churches. Not only are they tourist attractions, they also serve as community centers for baptisms, weddings, barbecues, class trips and more. When Pure Earth, working together with.

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Global Team Profile: Valeriia Kovach Talks Biofuels and Other Innovative Approaches in Ukraine

Global Team Profile: Valeriia Kovach Talks Biofuels and Other Innovative Approaches in Ukraine

Dec 10 , 2018

Like many countries of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine has been dealing with many unresolved pollution challenges, from the major issue of obsolete pesticides being improperly stored throughout the country, to the lingering public health and pollution issues connected to.

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Cleanup Of Infamous Pesticide Site Brings Toxic Legacy To An End

Mar 12 , 2018

[caption id="attachment_6163" align="aligncenter" width="640"] From left to right: Tofik Azizov, Ministry of Agriculture; Petr Sharov, Pure Earth; Technical Advisor Nicholas Albergo; Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth; Khatuna Akhalaya, Project Consultant.[/caption] If you asked any authority on pollution about Azerbaijan, the name.

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Notes From The Field: Irrigation Canal Delivers Poison To Entire Village of Naiman, Kyrgyzstan

Sep 18 , 2017

  This post is from Indira Zhakipova, Pure Earth's coordinator in Kyrgyzstan The village of Naiman is inhabited by 1,800 people, and is located in the Nookat district of the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan, 70 km from the regional center.

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Mongolia Update: Revisiting Miners We Trained

Aug 17 , 2017

Remember Mrs. Mungun? She was the "gold ninja" who learned to go mercury-free at a Pure Earth training workshop so she could provide a better life for her two children. We met Mrs. Mungun again recently and we're delighted to report that she's.

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A Personal Story Of Pollution In Azerbaijan, And A Childhood Caught Between Polluted And Clean

Jul 06 , 2017

This post comes from Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth’s country coordinator in Azerbaijan. Rovshan shares his story about pollution in Azerbaijan, and a childhood caught between clean and polluted. (WATCH VIDEO BELOW) Dr. Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth's coordinator in Azerbaijan, holding a tomato.

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Global Team Profile: Umed in Tajikistan Saves Families From Homes Built On Toxic Land

May 18 , 2017

Umed and the Pure Earth remediation team in Tajikistan In the past year, Pure Earth's team in Tajikistan has been measuring vast regions, where dozens of decrepit pesticide warehouses from the Soviet era have been leaking into the surrounding soil and water. When.

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Getting Lead Out Of Sovetskoe (Kan), Kyrgyzstan

Dec 05 , 2016

This post comes from Alena Temnikova, Pure Earth's regional coordinator in Kyrgyzstan.  The red wall of the building is made from lead-contaminated sand taken from the mine tailings. When lead and zinc ore mining began in the 1950s, the first workers lived.

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Mongolia Teaching Van Trailblazes A Path To Mercury-Free Mining

Jul 12 , 2016

This post is from Pure Earth summer intern Sarah Baer, a youth philanthropy leader in her junior year at the University of Pennsylvania. In the remote reaches of Mongolia, Pure Earth’s project team has put together a teaching van to educate miners on.

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New Signs Of Life: Greenery Sprouts From Once-Toxic Beach

Jun 28 , 2016

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Pure Earth embarked on our first cleanup project in Azerbaijan---at a toxic beach along the Caspian sea in Sumgayit---in a region we had designated as one of the “World’s Worst Polluted Places.” Today,.

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A Tremendous Loss: Dmitriy Tereshkevich

Jun 08 , 2016

The Pure Earth family is sad to learn of the sudden death of Dmitriy Tereshkevich, our country director in Kazakhstan. He was just 33. His passing is a shock and a tremendous loss to everyone at Pure Earth worldwide, and to the.

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A Mother’s Story: Mongolian “Gold Ninja” Goes Mercury-Free For Her Children

May 04 , 2016

This is Mrs. Mungun (not her real name), a single mother with two children living in Central Mongolia.  When times got tough for her, she became a "gold ninja" to feed her children. About 20% of the rural Mongolian workforce are "gold.

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Project Highlights 2015: A String Of Firsts

Feb 23 , 2016

Over the past year, we have started to finally see a shift connecting the silos that have kept efforts on the environment, health and development in separate disciplines. The catalyst for much of this progress has come from the creation.

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A Toxic Beach in Azerbaijan Gets Cleaned Up, Solar Baths Become Safer

Jun 09 , 2015

Read the story on Medium. This summer, when families return to stake out their spot in the sun along the coast of the Caspian sea in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, there will be one crucial difference. The beach will no longer be toxic, and.

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The Mystery of Mining Waste Dumped In An Armenian School

Nov 12 , 2014

Beyond Akhtala, the site of our very first cleanup project in Armenia (read more in Armenia's Toxic 10th-Century Monastery), our team came across various other polluted sites including a school, which apparently had been used as an informal dumping ground by a.

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Armenia’s Toxic 10th-Century Monastery (PHOTOS)

Nov 10 , 2014

The modern world has finally caught up with Akhtala, a historic town with a 10th-century monastery and church in Armenia. Years of mining and metals processing have provided jobs to the community, but at a grave cost.  The grounds of the historic.

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Businessweek Chronicles Dangerous Cleanup, Blacksmith/Pure Earth’s Global Successes

Sep 17 , 2014

"Fuller and Pure Earth (Blacksmith) have amassed an impressive record of success. But nothing could have prepared them for a situation like the decrepit Soviet dynamite* factory."  [*Note:  We want to clarify an error in the article.  It was not.

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A Deadly Secret: The Story Behind The Cleanup of a Former Soviet Arms Site

May 19 , 2014

Just how hard is it to clean up a toxic polluted site sitting on top of a "bomb," at a secret site? This month's TCE magazine features the story behind our work dealing with one of the most dangerous examples.

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Mercury, Mining and Mongolian Ninjas

Mar 07 , 2014

This week’s post comes from Andrew McCartor, Blacksmith’s program director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who was recently in Mongolia.   There is no preparing for the Mongolian winter. When I stepped onto the tarmac in the capital city.

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At the Roof of the World in Tajikistan

Feb 12 , 2014

This week's post comes from Andrew McCartor, Blacksmith’s program director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who is currently in Tajikistan. The small, mountainous country of Tajikistan is a former Soviet republic that borders Afghanistan to the south and China.

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Eliminating Obsolete Pesticides in the Former Soviet Union

Jan 29 , 2014

Over 40% of the world's stockpiles of obsolete pesticides, around 200,000 tons, are estimated to be still present in the former Soviet Union Republics including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Moldova and Russian Federation. Blacksmith has been invited to join.

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Snapshots of Progress in 2013 – EASTERN EUROPE/CENTRAL ASIA

Jan 29 , 2014

Stopping A Ticking Time Bomb In The Ukraine Keeping Radiation Out of Schools In Kyrgyzstan Groundbreaking Work In Armenia Blacksmith identified and assessed 128 contaminated sites in the region, bringing the total number of polluted communities documented in Eastern Europe and.

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