Frequently Asked Questions
About
Polluted Places
Nominating
a Site
Once
a Site is Chosen
About
Polluted Places
Who is behind the Polluted Places initiative?
Where is your key staff located?
How long have you been involved with pollution remediation
projects?
In what parts of the developing world are you already working
successfully on pollution-related problems?
Where do the funds to remediate a polluted site come from?
How many sites do you work with at any one time?
What kinds of toxics/pollution problems are you most interested
in helping to remediate?
Is this just another business venture, or is there a real
commitment to complete this work?
Nominating
a Site
What kind of site should be nominated?
Who can nominate a site?
How do I nominate a site?
What happens once my nomination is submitted?
What expectations are there of the nominator?
Once
a Site is Chosen
What kinds of expectations are there for chosen sites?
If the site is accepted, what kinds of support do you
offer? For how long do you offer support?
What strategies do you employ to help ensure that severe
pollution will not return to our community?
How are sites linked so that they can share information/expertise/success
stories?
Where will the funds come from that will be used to remediate
a polluted site in my community?
What kind of community accountability is built in?
What agency will carry out the clean up process?
About Polluted
Places
:: Who is behind the Polluted
Places initiative?
Polluted Places is a project of the Blacksmith
Institute. The Blacksmith Institute's mission is to ensure that
a clean and hospitable planet is accessible by future generations, regardless
of their cultural or economic circumstances. The focus of our work is
on pollution-related problems in developing countries. We link with
local donors and transnational partners to provide strategic, technical
and financial support to local champions and their organizations as
they strive together to solve specific, pollution-related problems in
their societies.
We also work closely with many partners. Click this link to find a
list of our partners and their role in
the Polluted Places process.
:: Where is your key staff located?
The Blacksmith Institute is based in New York City, with a satellite
office in Australia. We also have regional representatives who help
us support local projects and who hold senior positions at organizations
in various parts of Africa, Asia and Russia.
:: How long have you been involved
with pollution remediation projects?
The Blacksmith Institute has been supporting locally-based pollution-related
environmental work since 1999 through its grant-making programs in the
developing world. The Polluted Places project was launched in November,
2003.
:: In what parts of the developing
world are you already working successfully on pollution-related problems?
Polluted Places currently has active projects in India and Russia. The
Blacksmith Institute has funded work in Cambodia, China, Guinea, India,
Mozambique, Peru, Russia, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Thailand and Zambia.
Click
here to read more about Blacksmith's projects.
:: Where do the funds to remediate
a polluted site come from?
Funding is solicited from major international aid agencies and multilateral
banks. Corporate funds are occasionally be solicited as well to support
projects in locations where a corporation has operations or a particular
interest. Private donations from individuals are always welcome. If
you are interested in supporting our work, please click here.
:: How many sites do you work
with at any one time?
The number of sites in which we work vary according to available staff
and financial resources. We do not set an arbitrary cut off.
:: What kinds of toxics/pollution
problems are you most interested in helping to remediate?
While we are open to nominations of sites characterized by a wide range
of pollution problems, our own focus is on point-source pollutants that
have significantly adverse health affects on local populations and that
are not currently the focus of major clean-up efforts. We are most interested
in mining, and existing and legacy industrial sites. Click
here to read more about the types of sites we focus on.
:: Is this just another business
venture, or is there a real commitment to complete this work?
This is not a business; Polluted Places is a not-for-profit activity
with partners who have demonstrated
a strong commitment to pollution remediation work in developing countries.
Nominating
a Site
:: What kind of site should
be nominated?
We are looking for sites that meet the following criteria:
• where primarily point-source pollutants are causing substantial
human health problems;
• that lack an existing and capable clean-up effort;
• located in communities that demonstrate sufficient capacity
and interest to make remediation feasible;
• and where there can be reasonable expectations of success.
:: Who can nominate a site?
Anyone can, though we are especially interested in nominations from
local governments and NGOs.
:: How do I nominate a site?
You can nominate a site directly through this website. Go to the Nominate
section of the site, and fill out the form, which is also available
in Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Russian and Spanish. This will be
sent directly to the appropriate staff member for review.
:: What happens once my nomination
is submitted?
Once you submit your nomination, there will be an initial review by
Polluted Places staff. We will notify you that we have received your
nomination soon after this review, and we will provide you with a contact
person for follow-up. We may have additional questions for you if your
nomination is incomplete. All correspondence will be conducted by email.
We will then forward the nomination to our Technical
Advisory Board, which meets every month. Based on information from
your nomination and from other sources, the Board will conduct a preliminary
assessment of the severity of the nominated polluted site as well as
the ability of Polluted Places to offer assistance that is likely to
result in a successful remediation process.
If the nominated site meets their selection criteria, we will then arrange
to send a representative to conduct an Initial Site Assessment (ISA).
The ISA will enable us to make a final determination if and how we can
make a practical contribution to solving the local pollution problem.
During the ISA, we will meet with all interested local parties, including
government officials and the nominating individual or group, and we
will help develop and/or endorse a methodology for implementing a timely
and effective solution to the pollution problem.
If the site is not selected, you will receive an email explaining why,
and if you are interested, we will try to work with you to find an appropriate
resource to help you further.
:: What expectations are
there of the nominator?
As we have said previously, nominations can come from anyone—a
member of the community, a representative of a local government or NGO,
or even an individual living in a different country who happens to come
across such a site. However, if the nominator is a stakeholder, we hope
that they will be willing to be actively involved in the process: to
educate Polluted Places staff members on the local situation, help arrange
site visits and identify other stakeholders. If appropriate, the nominator
may also champion the remediation process.
The Polluted Places project stresses a cooperative, non-adversarial
process to solving these problems, and the involvement of all stakeholders—government,
industry and local communities. We encourage nominators to think about
their specific sites with this approach in mind.
Once
a Site is Chosen
:: What kinds of expectations
are there for chosen sites?
Polluted Places looks at several factors that determine whether or not
a site can move from the identification and nomination process to the
ISA and possible site remediation stage. Pollution-related morbidity
and mortality statistics, existing interest and activity by local governments
and community organizations in pollution issues, and the technical feasibility
of proposed clean up strategies all determine whether or not a nomination
will move to the remediation stage of the process.
:: If the site is accepted,
what kinds of support do you offer? For how long do you offer support?
Support will depend on the pollutant, the scope of the remediation project,
and the strategic design of the solution. Support might well include
financial resources to help a local agency manage the design and implementation
of the solution, as well as various types of technical support and assistance
in coordination with international agencies. Support is both flexible
and potentially long term.
:: What strategies do you
employ to help ensure that severe pollution will not return to our community?
The design and implementation work will generally be conducted by an
agency that is a recognized part of the local community. Once the remediation
process is fully operational, the local contracted agency will be eligible
for an updated package of focused support from Blacksmith Institute
and/or technical and financial partners as needed. This package will
include resources to help build a culture of pollution prevention among
NGOs, businesses, the media, government and more. It may also include
resources to help strengthen legal structures needed to regulate waste
and sanction polluters.
:: How
are sites linked so that they can share information/expertise/success
stories?
Projects will be linked by this website, where we will track the progress
of each site. Additionally, local partners will be given regular opportunities
to network amongst themselves globally and regionally via face-to-face
meetings.
:: Where will the funds come
from that will be used to remediate a polluted site in my community?
Funding is solicited from major international aid agencies and multilateral
banks. Corporate funds are occasionally be solicited as well to support
projects in locations where a corporation has operations or a particular
interest. Private donations from individuals are always welcome. If
you are interested in supporting our work, please click here.
:: What kind of community
accountability is built in?
Polluted Places intends to support local organizations capable of developing
and implementing solutions and ensuring that the needs of the local
community will remain of primary importance. Polluted Places will conduct
surveys and convene local meetings in order to get feedback from the
community and, as often as possible, to secure endorsement of the pollution
remediation strategy.
:: What agency will carry
out the clean up process?
The designated local agency will oversee the remediation process.
