Heavy fog over Chongqing, China. Toxins released from a smelter in central China have polluted the environment and harmed people‘s health, according to residents. (Feng Li/Getty Images)
Residents of Longshui Township in Chongqing, Sichuan Province, told reporters last month that nearby villagers often suffer unusual ailments, and that crops have died, seemingly poisoned. They say it is the waste ejected from the Red Butterfly Strontium Chemical Corporation, rich in sulfur-containing compounds in gas, liquid, and solid forms, that is polluting the air and water.
Residents have appealed to the local government since the plants opening in 1994, but to no avail, they said.
“We seldom use the roads in the vicinity of that chemical company,” said Mr. Chen, a local resident interviewed by Sound of Hope radio. “The liquid waste from the factory has a very bad smell. There is nothing we can do. It really stinks, stinks badly! It pollutes the local water. The liquid waste has polluted all the crops nearby. The peasants downstream are outraged.”
Those who were interviewed have had their names shortened or left anonymous to ensure their safety from Chinese authorities.
When asked whether the local crops are suitable for human consumption, Mr. Chen said: “The peasants had stopped selling their crops for some time, but now, a few months on, these crops are being sold again. We do not know whether currently the crops are up to the health standard or not.”
“We have reported it to the government, and to environmental protection organizations,” said Mr. Chen: “We reported the pollution to all these organizations in our area. Some of the villagers nearby became ill. But no one ever came to take care of it. It is because Dazu County is running out of money. They only care about the economy and have no concern for people’s lives.”
Another resident of Longshui Township said the villagers here do not even dare to open the windows. “It stinks beyond belief,” she said, “You feel like vomiting when that smell gets you. The factory often discharges the waste. We do not even dare to step out of our door [when the waste is being discharged]. When the factory discharges the gas waste, we have to close all our windows.”
Local home sales have also been affected, she said: “When buyers choose houses, they avoid Longshui Township completely. They say the air in Longshui is bad, so they go to other towns and counties to buy houses.”
At the end of May this year, the Green Volunteers Association in Chongqing enlisted 20 volunteers for an investigation at Yongxi Town near the chemical company. Yongxi Town is among several small towns that locals have labeled “cancer villages.”
The investigation revealed that in one local Yongxi community of 250 people, 19 have suffered from liver or lung cancer in the last five years. Cancer patients are as much as 8 percent of the population.
A lady at Longshui Township said the chemical pollution severely harmed people’s health. She said: “The pollution is very serious. Local residents really hate it. Many suffer strange diseases, too many to mention.”
Some residents have reported being beaten up by the local authorities or personnel from the chemical company. The general sentiment is that the Red Butterfly Chemical Corporation is one of the major revenue producers for the county and it has strong ties with local the government, thus ensuring its protection and creating an atmosphere that silences criticism.
