Polluting plant operates while villagers detained
By Wang Xiang |
March 17, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A COUNTY government in central China refused to shut a polluting factory and detained villagers who tried to have medical tests after 250 children were confirmed with lead poisoning.
The county was impoverished and could not afford to lose the factory, Lei Xiangdong, the head of the environmental protection authority in Jiahe County, Henan Province, told Beijing News yesterday.
The lead factory responsible for the massive poisoning is still in operation.
Lei said the authority had sent out notices for it to shut down, but all had been ignored.
Villager Cao Xiaoying said her four children were all poisoned from lead in the blood and her husband, Liao Mingxiu, was taken away by local police five months ago for allegedly inciting public disorder.
Last September, a bus carrying 53 villagers was stopped by government officials and police officers.
Three people, including Cao's husband, were detained because officials thought the villagers were going to report to higher authorities about the cases of toxicity, the newspaper said.
Cao said they were only going to Guangzhou see doctors.
Another villager, Liao Zhongfu, was detained for robbing material from the factory in an effort to prove high levels of pollution.
A health check on 18 children on August 24 found all had excessive lead in their blood.
The Jiahe government said 250 children among the total of 397 in three villages of the county were suffering from lead poisoning, according to its medical tests.
The factory was closed for a short time in 2009 after the scandal broke out, but resumed operations afterwards.
The county was impoverished and could not afford to lose the factory, Lei Xiangdong, the head of the environmental protection authority in Jiahe County, Henan Province, told Beijing News yesterday.
The lead factory responsible for the massive poisoning is still in operation.
Lei said the authority had sent out notices for it to shut down, but all had been ignored.
Villager Cao Xiaoying said her four children were all poisoned from lead in the blood and her husband, Liao Mingxiu, was taken away by local police five months ago for allegedly inciting public disorder.
Last September, a bus carrying 53 villagers was stopped by government officials and police officers.
Three people, including Cao's husband, were detained because officials thought the villagers were going to report to higher authorities about the cases of toxicity, the newspaper said.
Cao said they were only going to Guangzhou see doctors.
Another villager, Liao Zhongfu, was detained for robbing material from the factory in an effort to prove high levels of pollution.
A health check on 18 children on August 24 found all had excessive lead in their blood.
The Jiahe government said 250 children among the total of 397 in three villages of the county were suffering from lead poisoning, according to its medical tests.
The factory was closed for a short time in 2009 after the scandal broke out, but resumed operations afterwards.
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