The Firm Made Them Sign Away Their Rights First
China’s Sino-Metals Leach Zambia spilled toxic sludge into communities and rivers, an accident that could cost billions to clean up and restore. The firm got impoverished and often illiterate villagers to sign away their right to sue in exchange for government-ordered payments ranging from $17 to $2,000.
A Chinese mining company that spilled toxic waste on impoverished Zambian villages got people to waive their right to sue using a government-ordered compensation process, according to documents reviewed by Inside Climate News.
In July, the Zambian government ordered Sino-Metals Leach Zambia to provide interim compensation to 454 farmers after the company’s waste pit, known as a tailings dam, spilled millions of gallons of acidic sludge containing lead, arsenic and other heavy metals into communities and rivers in February.
“Without immediate intervention, the consequences for future generations of Zambians will be severe and long-lasting,” said a letter written by a pollution control firm hired, and then dropped, by Sino-Metals.
Zambian officials said the interim payments were for damage to livestock, land and crops, which were inundated with the sludge. In late July, Sino-Metals paid affected individuals from around $17 to $2,000, according to local civil society workers, amounts far below the cost of the damage.
And there was a catch.
Lawyers and a resident told Inside Climate News that in order to receive payment, Sino-Metals required locals to sign “Deed of Settlement and Release” agreements.
One of the agreements, reviewed by Inside Climate News, says that Sino-Metals was making the payment “as full and final settlement of all claims arising from any damage, injury, or inconvenience” experienced by the affected individual as a result of the spill.
The agreement, dated July 2025, is signed by the payment recipient and a Sino-Metals official. The Zambian government does not appear to be a party to the agreement and did not sign it, though the document references two ministries’ involvement in assessing the amount of damages.
The affected individual, the agreement says, “accepts and acknowledges” that the amount they will receive from Sino-Metals “is full and final settlement” of all claims.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04092025/china-sino-metals-zambia-toxic-spill/