Dominican Republic part of the Toxic Ten

[carolina]

A recent American study found the top ten most polluted areas on the planet, Haina, DR was found to be one of them, amongst scattered others in Russia, Africa, and parts of Asia. The placement of Haina on this list is due to the high concentrations of lead in the area, a result of battery recycling and smelting, leaving the residents in danger.

The study is an effort to bring awareness and aid to the areas, in order to help clean up and educate/protect the residents.

the article

[Robert]

"Haina in the Dominican Republic, where battery recycling and smelting have left huge concentrations of lead in residents..."

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | World's pollution hotspots mapped

[qgrande]

Wow, the top ten world-wide! I wonder whether the Dominican media will think this is important enough to pick up on .....

[Keith R]

Sad thing is, this is not a new story. The Haina lead poisoning problem was identified in the 1990s while I lived in SD. News articles and scientific studies kick up dust about the contamination every few years, but the government does little to address it seriously...

Worse yet, in my view, is Haina is only the site that everyone talks about. given how badly artesanal mining of lead-acid batteries is performed in the DR, I have little doubt there are many other toxic hot spots around the DR that are not identified or talked about, but nonetheless are ticking time bombs for public health...

[A.Hidalgo]

Originally Posted by qgrande

Wow, the top ten world-wide! I wonder whether the Dominican media will think this is important enough to pick up on .....

I would hope the Dominican media keeps this story(or should start) on the front burner. According to the studies done its incontrovertible the proof of the poisons in that area. The link will take you to the environmental agency involved with the study.

The Blacksmith Institute

[Keith R]

From the Blacksmith Institute site on the Haina case:

Various studies have found alarming lead levels in the Haina community. Studies have found lead levels in inhabitants over 100 parts per million (ppm), whereas EPA-mandated limits in children are considered to be 10 ppm and 20 ppm for adults. The contamination is believed to have been caused by the past industrial operations of the nearby Baterías Meteoro battery plant. Although the company has moved to a new site, the contamination still remains.

[Texas Bill]

Keith;
Why don't you send this disclosure/commentary to www.dominicantoday.com" for publication?
Send it to attention of Jorge Peneda. He'd love to get an article of this nature for his "Opinion" column.

Texas Bill

[Chris]

Some more very bad press on this issue ..
Dominican Republic town ranks along with Chernobyl as most polluted locations

Caribbean Net News: Dominican Republic town ranks along with Chernobyl as most polluted locations

[tortuga verde]

This is amazing, my girlfriend just call me from the other side of the globe to tell me about this...she read about it on Spiegel online....Again the D.R gets a good reputation at international level....6 months ago we appeared to be at 7/10 of corruption level (next to Pakistan): 1/10 was iceland and the scale was going up to 8...
what else is going to happen to make people realize how precious is their land and society? Every Dominican should go to Haiti once in their lifetime to see what can be left after a human disaster...
This said I hope somebody has a solution for this..
T.V

[A.Hidalgo]

Originally Posted by Chris

Some more very bad press on this issue ..
Dominican Republic town ranks along with Chernobyl as most polluted locations

Caribbean Net News: Dominican Republic town ranks along with Chernobyl as most polluted locations

Its a positive sign that the media is picking up the story, but we need the Dominican press to get on the ball.