Changqing: A mayor apologised to
residents of two villages, where nearly all the children were
sickened by lead poisoning apparently from a nearby smelter,
after recent clashes between angry parents and police, state
media said on Tuesday.
The mayor of Baoji city in Shaanxi province, Dai
Zhengshe, arrived at the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co.
plant yesterday when hundreds of villagers were protesting,
tearing down fences and blocking traffic outside the factory,
the official Xinhua News Agency said.
At least 615 out of 731 children in the two villages near
the Dongling smelter in the town of Changqing in Baoji have
tested positive for lead poisoning, which can damage the
nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood
pressure, anemia and memory loss. Lead levels in some of the
children were more than 10 times the level considered safe by
China.
In Changqing, where the villages lie, Mayor Dai
apologised to residents for the poisoning and vowed the plant
will not be allowed to open again until it meets health
standards, Xinhua said.
Villagers were enraged by the plant's apparent defiance
of an August 6 order from environmental authorities to suspend
operations, Xinhua said. Fighting between angry parents and
scores of police broke out Sunday, and trucks delivering coal
to the plant were stoned.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 18:18