BI has recently completed the first phase of a Global Inventory Project, which will result in the first comprehensive database of the world’s worst polluted places covering over 80 countries. The database includes detailed information on over 1,160 sites with initial site assessments completed at almost 500 locations. The GIP sites have been analyzed and those with specific ground-water contamination problems have been identified.
BI has funded and TAB members have implemented ground-water remediation projects in the developing world. Remediation is accomplished through a cooperative effort of multiple stakeholders. Across the developing world, pollution kills thousands of people indiscriminately, shortens lives, damages children’s development and growth, and creates a background of chronic illnesses that makes strong economic development nearly impossible.
One purpose of this paper is to educate the ground-water community of the severity of ground-water contamination outside of the industrialized world. A second purpose is to demonstrate how simplified remediation techniques can have a major impact on the health of an affected population. Multiple-year studies are typically cost-prohibitive and delay the implementation of a program that may not be perfect, but fairly quickly and inexpensively saves people’s lives.
The authors, TAB members, will describe the GIF inventory process and results with an emphasis on sites with ground-water contamination. The authors wish to convey the reality that seemingly insurmountable levels of pollution in a complex geo-political setting can be successfully addressed.
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