From Shanghai Daily:
More than 1,300 farmers in a remote county in Hubei Province have been diagnosed with skin ailments due to pollution from smelting plants.
The government in Jianli County has promised to tear down all plants that smelt the highly profitable alloy vanadium, Changjiang Times reported today.
The smelting plants discharged waste containing toxic cadmium and arsenic into waterways, which led to the pollution of both water and farms. The contaminated water also spread to several villages and polluted tens of thousands of hectares of fields.
Officials said yesterday that all sick farmers from eight townships have received treatment and medical experts are still investigating how the contaminated water and fields caused the skin ailments.
Read also 4 detained over illegal smelting plants by Yang Lifei, and Polluting smelters shut down after damaging farmers’ skin by Cui Xiaohuo and Gong Zhengzheng.
