Hours after reporter Will Fitzgibbon asked Cameroon’s chief toxic chemical regulator why one of the largest battery recycling plants in the country was operating in defiance of a suspension order, its chimneys spewing fumes over a residential neighborhood, the official jumped into his car.
“I quickly rushed to the site, just to discover that this information was indeed true,” William Lemnyuy, deputy director of the country’s environmental ministry, told Fitzgibbon.
The company – one of the largest in Central Africa and engaged in one of the world’s most polluting industries – had previously promised to halt operations after reporting by The Examination, a new investigative news outlet focused on threats to public health worldwide.
Now, the company was back at it.
“Thanks once more for raising the alarm,” said Lemnyuy, who again ordered the company to shut down until it introduced new technologies to curb pollution. This time, he sent photographs to prove it.
The battery recycling plant, founded by an Indian-born businessman, was a focus of the investigation by The Examination exposing how the industry in Africa is dominated by Indian-owned firms seizing on some of the weakest environmental regulations in the world.
It’s a story that squarely exemplifies the spirit of ONA’s Excellence in Social Justice Reporting award, deftly demonstrating systemic inequities encountered by marginalized communities.
The Examination based its reporting records from nine countries, including lawsuits, confidential corporate files, videos, medical records, government inspections and correspondence, interviews and visits to battery recycling factories and nearby neighborhoods. The investigation was done in partnership with reporters from Cameroon and Ghana.
The reporting focused on countries hostile to independent journalism. In Cameroon, three journalists were murdered in 2023 alone. In the Republic of Congo, the last time reporter Will Fitzgibbon wrote about the government, officials threatened retaliation and lawsuits.
The Examination commissioned a geochemist in Cameroon to gather soil samples from inside and outside a battery recycling facility, who then sent them to San Francisco for analysis. More than half of the results identified lead levels that experts agree pose a threat to human health.
In the Republic of the Congo, The Examination accompanied nurses who crisscrossed a sandy neighborhood to collect blood samples from men, women and children living near another battery recycling facility. The samples showed dangerous levels of lead in the blood of every person tested. Testing would not have happened without The Examination’s reporting, officials said.
Following questions from The Examination, Trafigura, a leading commodities trader, promised an investigation and later said lead imports from the company in question had been stopped.
After publication, the environment ministry in Cameroon ordered one polluting factory to upgrade its anti-pollution technology – or risk closure. In the Republic of Congo, a court ordered the immediate suspension of a factory, citing blood test results in finding that community members faced “urgent” risks to their health.
