(Alliance News) - Anglo American PLC "turned a blind eye" to lead pollution in Zambia, lawyers pushing for a class action claim said on Friday.
A certification hearing will determine whether around 140,000 lead poisoned women and children in the town of Kabwe, Zambia can bring class action proceedings against Anglo American South Africa Ltd.
The case is being brought by 12 representative plaintiffs on behalf of the class.
The claimants are being represented by Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys, with London-based Leigh Day, experts in collective redress, acting as consultants.
The court hearing is scheduled to last for eight days and will consider whether the case should proceed as a class action.
Claimants say the affected children are at risk of significant brain damage, as well as premature death for some, as a result of dangerous blood lead levels. This is due to the alleged mismanagement of mining operations that took place under Anglo American's watch.
Two of the representatives were under two years of age at the time the application was filed, and had blood lead levels in excess of 100 micrograms per decilitre, while eight had blood lead levels in excess of 45 micrograms per decilitre. The latter is the level at which significant medical treatment is required.
Studies conducted in the Kabwe area over the past 20 years also found that 80% of young children sampled had blood lead levels over five micrograms per decilitre
Anglo American is attempting to block the class action, despite evidence it knew of the risk to residents.
It denies responsibility following Kabwe being described as the "world's most toxic town" by pollution experts. Instead, it claims this is due to gross negligence by Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, the Zambian state-owned company that took over the mine in 1974.
Studies by Kabwe mine doctors in the late 1960s and early 1970s contradict this, according to the claimants. The studies showed that children around the mine were already suffering severe lead poisoning and that the soil in local areas was heavily polluted with lead from the mine.
Anglo American's attempts to dismiss the class action have prompted interventions in the case by several United Nations agencies and Amnesty International.
They argue Anglo American's attempts to dismiss the case contradicts its publicly-made human rights commitments.
Anglo American's group human rights policy states: "Where we have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts we will contribute to their remediation as appropriate."
Lead accumulated during childhood is stored in the bones and released during pregnancy, as it crosses the placenta and poisons the foetus.
It also puts the mother at significant risk of adverse health effects such as hypertension and miscarriage, while the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention both find there is no safe level of lead.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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