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A mining company has polluted a major river in southern China. The deadly chemical contamination threatens millions of people living downstream.
Cadmium pollution was detected in the Liujiang River in the Guangxi region last Thursday. Cadmium is a chemical that can cause cancer and damage people's kidneys. It was found more than 10 days after the wastewater from a local mining firm polluted Longjiang, a tributary upstream of the Liujiang River.
A water test sample shows the river contains five times more cadmium than the safety standard. The affected areas have been reached 37 miles away from Liuzhou Dam, which sits on the Liujiang River. Local authorities warned residents not to fetch water from the polluted sections of the river. It's affecting more than three million people living nearby who have to rely on bottled water.
Although it has been verified the pollution comes from the Guangxi Jinhe Mining Company, it's not clear when it started and the quantity of the discharge.
[Huang He, Deputy Head of Environmental Protection Bureau, Hechi City]:
"Guangxi Jinhe Mining Co. Ltd. is responsible for the pollution according to our initial investigation. The company had long been storing industrial waste at the foot of the hill, which was then discharged to the Longjiang River through underground water."
Local fire authorities put tons of neutralizers, made from dissolved aluminum chloride, into the Longjiang River to dissolve the contamination.
Still industrial and agricultural discharge of toxic pollutants is a pressing issue in China. Despite the call to step up pollution enforcement, economic growth, revenue and job creation are usually put ahead of environmental concerns.
