What does Flint, Michigan, and Kabwe, Zambia, have in common? The answer is lead poisoning.
Recently, NPR’s Goats and Soda program spoke with Pure Earth President Richard Fuller to get his take on the lead-contaminated water supply in Flint and how it compares to the many toxic lead sites around the world.
“Flint is an example of a contaminated site,” said Fuller. “But there are places hundreds of times worse, in thousands of places in the world. And that’s not an exaggeration. One of those places is Kabwe,” Fuller told reporter Susan Brink.
Both Flint and Kabwe were once bustling, industrial hubs, one dependent on the auto industry, the other on mining. Both were abandoned by the industry that once sustained them.
“With declining industry in both communities, there was a series of bad decisions, a lack of attention and environmental injustice,” says Richard Fuller.
Because lead is the world’s #1 toxin, affecting over 19 million people, it is a major focus of Pure Earth.
Read the full article here: What Flint, Michigan, and Kabwe, Zambia, have in common, NPR, Goats and Soda, Jan., 22, 2016.