Kabwe in Zambia has been left with extreme levels of lead pollution after almost a century of metal mining and smelting, harming generations of children.
“The aim of this Group is, and will remain, to earn profits for our shareholders, but to do so in such a way as to make a real and lasting contribution to the communities in which we operate.”
Anglo American Founder Sir Ernest Oppenheimer 1954
Watch our video
about Kabwe
Project Kabwe.
There is incontrovertible evidence of massive lead contamination of soil in Kabwe. Soil lead levels are as much as 10 times recommended safety levels
“From the 1950s, Anglo American publicly committed to making a lasting contribution to communities in
which it operated. Its current human rights policy is to contribute to remediation when its business
has contributed to adverse human rights impacts. This ongoing public health disaster is the result
of a flagrant disregard for the health of the local community, which is totally at odds with
those
grand public pronouncements.”
– Richard Meeran, Partner & Head of the International Department at Leigh Day