The problem

Four tons of toxic chemicals are stored in a dilapidated warehouse in the Soviet District of Nizhny Novgorod. Data provided by the Committee for Environmental Protection and Nature Management and the Center of State Sanitary and Epidemiological Monitoring of Nizhny Novgorod shows that a critical environmental situation has been reached here.

Health Impact

Exposure to DDT and DDE can result in impairment of nerve impulse conduction, high blood levels of DDE during and increased odds of having pre-term deliveries and height abnormalities in children. They are probable human carcinogens.

Current Activity

Blacksmith Institute is funding project work to safely remove and dispose of tons of DDT and other hazardous chemical pesticides from an ill-equipped facility up river from Volga City.

Outcome

About four tons of various pesticides have been packaged and removed from open and leaky storage, where they were contaminating ground and surface water. Blacksmith funded the local government through a local NGO to safely remove these chemicals.