U.S. Water News Online
BEIJING-- At least four children among the hundreds of people made ill by emissions from a lead smelter in western China are likely to suffer permanent brain damage, state media said.
A top Chinese environmental official said the factory was emitting 800 times the acceptable levels and accused local authorities of failing to do anything.
Some 250 children were still in hospital weeks after the mass poisoning case was uncovered in Hui county in Gansu province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Four are reported to have more than 450 milligrams of lead per liter of blood -- a level that constitutes severe poisoning and that usually results in brain damage, Xinhua said.
At least 877 people from Hui county's villages of Xinsi and Moba, including 334 children under 14, have tested positive for excessive amounts of lead in their blood since August.
Xinhua said the 250 hospitalized children, all under 14 years of age, are being treated with vitamin supplements and most are in stable condition.
The pollution has been traced to the Hui County Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Plant Co., a 10-year-old factory that was allegedly warned several times by environmental officials to stop discharging pollutants but continued to do so. The plant has since been demolished.
In 2003, the plant released 201 tons of lead into the atmosphere, 800 times acceptable levels, Pan Yue, the deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.
He said the case and another in Hunan province where two factories were found to have been dumping arsenide and other pollutants into a river for at least a year were "typical examples of pollution problems caused by a dereliction of duty" by local officials.
"The plants appeared to cause the pollution, but in fact the root of the problem lies in the local governments and local protectionism," Pan was quoted as saying.
In the river pollution case, a recent random water quality check on the Xinqiang River in Hunan's Yueyang county showed its levels of toxic arsenide were 10 times acceptable standards. The discovery forced officials to shut down water supplies to 80,000 people in the area for four days.
The pollution was traced two companies: the Haoyuan Chemical Company, a sulfuric acid manufacturer, and Taolin Lead-Zinc Ore Chemical Plant.
Two factory managers, one from each company, have been detained and could face criminal charges, Pan was quoted as saying.
Hunan officials have promised to severely punish the local officials responsible, Xinhua said.
There have been no reported arrests or punishments meted out to the Hui county plant or to county officials. The smelter has allegedly agreed to compensate affected villagers but details of the compensation have not been released.
The poisonings added to a string of recent pollution disasters in China that have prompted violent protests in some areas.
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