15,000 living near lead smelters will be relocated soon
By Hu Yongqi (China Daily/Xinhua)
About 15,000 residents in 10 villages around lead smelters in Jiyuan, China's biggest lead smelting base, are going to move away from the threat of lead poisoning, after more than 1,000 children were found to have excessive lead in their blood, officials said yesterday.
Zhao Suping, mayor of the city in central Henan province, said on Friday the mass relocation would cost 1 billion yuan ($146 million). About 70 percent of the cost will be paid by the government and the smelters, and the other 30 percent will be funded by local residents.
The government is now looking for sites for the new settlements, he said.
The health bureau of Jiyuan initiated blood tests for children on Aug 20 in the wake of a lead poisoning scandal in neighboring Shaanxi province.
The mass lead poisonings in Henan, and earlier this year in Shaanxi, Hunan and Yunnan, sickened thousands of children. The poisonings shed light once again on the dilemma facing many parts of China as industrial development poses threats to the environment and people's health.
A local resident surnamed Li who is in her 60s has two small granddaughters, one who was tested to have 360 mg of lead per liter (mgl) of blood and the other had 520 mgl. The normal content levels of lead in blood range from zero to 100 mgl. Experts say that human health is severely harmed when the content reaches more than 200 mgl.
"I am not satisfied with the current steps by the government," she said. "Many villagers won't use lead-removing medicine because they fear the possible side effects.
"More importantly, I think the government should respond faster and do more to prevent similar cases from occurring."
An official surnamed Li at Shibin village, a national model village, said three relocation sites are available for the villagers.
They will more than likely move to a place about 4 km away from their houses, she said.
"There are serious cases among the affected children, and we understand parents' anxiety about the health condition of their children," she told China Daily yesterday.
"But we need time to cure kids and finish the relocation process."
Once the residents move away from the smelting plants, the companies will rent the surrounding land and then plant trees that will act like a natural barrier to the spread of pollution, officials said.
Yang Anguo, board chairman of China's biggest lead smelter, Yuguang Gold and Lead Group, had mixed feelings when he saw local villagers protesting in front of his plant.
'Slower Than Guns' was a fav from Iron Butterfly's Evolution LP. In the early 70's I was clueless about pollution.
