Mining: Pollution

Lord Oates Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Oates]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the United Kingdom’s responsibility to ensure that mining companies which operated in former British colonies during colonial rule address pollution that their activities caused in those countries.

[Lord Oates (LD)]

My Lords, I tabled this debate to tell the story of the people of Kabwe, a city in Zambia which has been described as the world’s most polluted town, and to highlight the dangers of their experiences being replicated in the scramble for African resources currently under way. In doing so, I pay tribute to the people of Kabwe and those who are supporting them in their fight for justice and restitution, including Environment Africa, Action for Southern Africa—ACTSA—other civil society organisations and their legal advisers. In particular, I highlight the tireless work of ACTSA’s former director, Tricia Sibbons, who, with many others, has done so much to raise the profile of this issue in the United Kingdom. I also look forward to the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Hain, who as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on South Africa has championed the cause of Kabwe’s people.

Broken Hill mine, later Kabwe mine, operated from 1906 to 1994. Between 1925 and 1974, the most productive phase of its operation, it was owned by a now defunct company which was within the Anglo American group. The parent company of that group at the time was Anglo American South Africa Limited, AASA. During most of the period that the mine was operational, until Zambian independence in October 1964, the UK was the legal authority. The town and the mine were named after Broken Hill in New South Wales, where lead mining also took place and where the health impacts of lead poisoning were identified as early as 1893 in a report commissioned by the New South Wales Government.

Widespread and severe lead poisoning and the deaths of several children in the villages close to the Kabwe mine were identified by a series of Kabwe mine doctors, and in 1970 Professor Ronald Lane, a renowned public health expert from Manchester University, was commissioned by Anglo American to investigate and advise on the situation. He confirmed the mine doctors’ findings and advised on remedial measures, including replacing the topsoil and relocating communities. This advice was not heeded, on the grounds that it would be “far too expensive”.

The mine ceased operations in 1994, leaving an estimated 6.4 million tonnes of lead-bearing waste piles, leaching lead into the soil and water. The biggest waste heap left behind is known as “Black Mountain”, which blows dust into neighbouring areas with the wind. Very young children are the worst affected. They ingest the dust, which is all around them, when they suck their fingers. Many children develop an addiction to lead, which can taste sweet, leading them to eat contaminated soil.

In a powerful report, Life in the World’s Most Polluted Town, published by Environment Africa and ACTSA last October, Mary from the mine area of Kabwe says of her 14 year-old daughter Precious:

“Her health is not ok. When she is coughing it gets intense and she has flu most of the time, bleeding from the nose, low body weight and a poor appetite. She likes to eat soil and she eats it in huge quantities. It’s very difficult to stop her because she hides it most of the time and I know that it’s the very soil that contains lead. We took her to the clinic and it was discovered that she has lead in her blood”.


Bertha Musonda, the mother of children aged nine and 15, from the Kabwe district of Makululu, said:

“Before taking my children to the clinic I wondered why they were always coughing and were very forgetful … When I did, the results showed that they both had lead in their blood”.


Lead pollution is everywhere, blown as dust into homes and ingested through vegetables grown in contaminated soil. The US Environmental Protection Agency defines lead contamination in soil above 200 milligrams per kilogram as a hazard for residents. In Kabwe it reaches as high as 60,000 milligrams. There is no safe level of lead in the blood. Leading medical experts advise that brain damage, in particular cognitive impairment, occurs with any elevated blood lead level—BLL—above zero. It is estimated that 140,000 people in Kabwe have lead poisoning—that is, BLLs above 5 milligrams per decilitre of blood.

Loveness, the mother of a six year-old girl and a three year-old boy, also from Makululu in Kabwe, took her children to the clinic to be tested for lead poisoning, because they were constantly sick. They had blood lead levels of 40 milligrams and 45 milligrams respectively, far in excess of the WHO reference point for blood poisoning of 5 milligrams. Studies have found that in Kabwe’s “Central Villages”, average BLLs for children exceed 50 milligrams. By way of comparison, a 2021 £467 million settlement relating to water contamination in Flint, Michigan, comprised 90,000 individuals whose BLLs were almost entirely below 10 milligrams per decilitre.

An application to allow a class action against Anglo American South Africa is currently before the South African courts. AASA denies liability. The legal action is a last resort because, as the ACTSA/Environment Africa report says:

“The Kabwe story should not be about legal wrangling over who left what when: there is no doubt that the pollution results from the extractive process, negligence in waste disposal, and refusal to protect residents … The Kabwe story should be one of deep regret by those responsible, of negotiation with and compensation from those who profited, as well as health testing and urgent care for those already affected … we must see full remediation of the environment, such that all children and adults live free from lead poisoning, that subsistence farming by families is again possible, agriculture is restored, and a green and pleasant land—every Zambian’s birthright—is finally a reality for future generations”.


In responding to this debate, I hope that the Minister will address the following questions. As the colonial authority during most of the period in which the Kabwe mine operated and produced pollution, what assessment have the UK Government made of their moral responsibility to bring their influence to bear on the relevant parties to address this issue? What discussions have the Government had specifically with Anglo American to encourage it to clean up the toxic legacy left behind by one of its own group companies? What assessment have the UK Government made of the impact of the severe cuts to UK bilateral development support to Zambia on Zambia’s ability to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the British legacy in Kabwe?

Sadly, the people of Kabwe are far from alone in suffering from the impacts of extractive industries around the world, and a new scramble for African resources threatens to create yet more toxic legacies. So what role is the UK playing in international fora to hold mining companies and other extractive industries accountable for the damage that they inflict on local communities? We owe it to Mary, Bertha, Loveness and their children, and tens of thousands of others in Kabwe, to ensure not only that they receive justice and restitution but that we do all we can to prevent the current scramble for African resources creating a plethora of new Kabwes.