Ship-Breaking

I recently attended the Goldman Prize Awards, also known as the Environmental Nobel. The award is given to one grassroots environmental hero from each continent.

All of the winners are inspiring - including the North American woman who fights against the destruction of land, water, and life during the mountaintop removal mining that takes place in West Virginia.

I particularly enjoyed the learning about the work of Rizwana Hasan, a female attorney in Bangladesh, who works to reduce the impact of the environmentally-devastating ship breaking industry.

Last year in Int'l World Trade Law, I wrote about the toxic harm to the people who break down electronic waste (e-waste) from the computer industry. Having been land-locked my whole life, I hadn't thought about the toxic harm to the people who break down retired ships - and how this business is exported to developing countries with less stringent environmental laws.

Rizwana is one of two female attorneys who won the Goldman Prize this year. I was moved by the power of the law as the means (& only means) to fight environmental exploitation in each winner's case (most of the 7).

In the short video about Rizwana's work, I smiled when I saw the dozens of binders she had on her bookshelf labeled "ship-breaking." She is now the leading attorney on ship-breaking law. What a specific but important way to practice law.

Rizwana Hasan and workers in the ship-breaking industry.

Bangladesh is one of only a few countries in the world with a thriving ship breaking industry. Decommissioned ships from around the world are sent to Bangladesh and dismantled by hand on the beaches by unskilled workers who are often paid less than one dollar per day. Coveted for their valuable steel and other scrap metals, aging vessels are sold to ship breaking yards and taken apart piece by piece with torches and other small tools, resulting in toxic contamination of the coastal waters and serious health hazards for the 20,000 workers. The ships, laden with asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, arsenic and other substances, leach toxic chemicals into the environment. Ecosystems have been heavily polluted and hundreds of workers have been maimed or killed in the process, as they dismantle the ships with little or no protective equipment.