Plant chief faces lead charges
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
March 28, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The general manager of a battery plant in the eastern city of Taizhou faces environmental pollution charges after lead emissions from his plant poisoned nearly 168 villagers, including 53 children, local authorities said yesterday.
Ying Jianguo, manager at the Taizhou Suqi Storage Battery Co Ltd in Zhejiang Province, was detained by police on Friday, said Pan Fangdi, an official from Luqiao District in Taizhou.
Pan said three government officials, including the deputy chief of the district's environmental protection office, have been suspended from their posts for failing to properly supervise the region.
In the latest of a string of heavy metal pollution cases in China, 168 villagers in the Shangtao Village in Taizhou were found to have elevated lead levels in their blood, according to a provincial health department statement.
Three of the adults had more than three times the safe limit for humans, although nobody was found to be suffering from severe lead poisoning, Pan said.
The lead poisoning incidents have been directly linked to the discharge of untreated waste from the battery plant, Pan said.
"An inspection of the battery plant showed that lead readings in gas and water discharged from the plant exceeded the legal limit, which also resulted in excessive lead in the earth nearby," local environment official Jiang Xincai said.
Villagers are being advised to avoid eating food grown in the area as the lead had probably contaminated groundwater.
The battery plant, just meters away from the village, opened in 2005. Production has been halted and will not be resumed until the pollution problem is fixed.
Lead poisoning often builds up slowly as the result of repeated exposure to small amounts of lead. It can damage various parts of the body, including the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys, and it can also cause high blood pressure and anaemia, say health experts.
Lead is especially harmful for young children as it can lead to learning difficulties and behavioral problems.
China's environment ministry has called for urgent measures to tackle heavy metal poisoning as cases of mass poisoning have aroused widespread public anger.
In 2009, protesters broke into a smelting works they blamed for the lead poisoning of more than 600 children, smashing trucks and tearing down fences.
Meanwhile, the environmental protection department of northeast China's Jilin Province is preparing to conduct a series of inspections of pollution treatment facilities in 430 industrial plants built on rivers including Liaohe River, the Songhua River and their tributaries. The inspections are aimed at preventing future spills, especially of heavy metals.
Ying Jianguo, manager at the Taizhou Suqi Storage Battery Co Ltd in Zhejiang Province, was detained by police on Friday, said Pan Fangdi, an official from Luqiao District in Taizhou.
Pan said three government officials, including the deputy chief of the district's environmental protection office, have been suspended from their posts for failing to properly supervise the region.
In the latest of a string of heavy metal pollution cases in China, 168 villagers in the Shangtao Village in Taizhou were found to have elevated lead levels in their blood, according to a provincial health department statement.
Three of the adults had more than three times the safe limit for humans, although nobody was found to be suffering from severe lead poisoning, Pan said.
The lead poisoning incidents have been directly linked to the discharge of untreated waste from the battery plant, Pan said.
"An inspection of the battery plant showed that lead readings in gas and water discharged from the plant exceeded the legal limit, which also resulted in excessive lead in the earth nearby," local environment official Jiang Xincai said.
Villagers are being advised to avoid eating food grown in the area as the lead had probably contaminated groundwater.
The battery plant, just meters away from the village, opened in 2005. Production has been halted and will not be resumed until the pollution problem is fixed.
Lead poisoning often builds up slowly as the result of repeated exposure to small amounts of lead. It can damage various parts of the body, including the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys, and it can also cause high blood pressure and anaemia, say health experts.
Lead is especially harmful for young children as it can lead to learning difficulties and behavioral problems.
China's environment ministry has called for urgent measures to tackle heavy metal poisoning as cases of mass poisoning have aroused widespread public anger.
In 2009, protesters broke into a smelting works they blamed for the lead poisoning of more than 600 children, smashing trucks and tearing down fences.
Meanwhile, the environmental protection department of northeast China's Jilin Province is preparing to conduct a series of inspections of pollution treatment facilities in 430 industrial plants built on rivers including Liaohe River, the Songhua River and their tributaries. The inspections are aimed at preventing future spills, especially of heavy metals.
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