Refinery blights lives of over 1,200
Print Edition
More than 1,200 people living close to a realgar mine in central China’s Hunan Province have fallen victims to decades-long arsenic refining, local authorities announced following media reports that arsenic poisoning caused at least 500 mine workers to die from cancer.
The refinery opened in Shimen County in 1950 after the discovery of Asia’s biggest deposits of realgar, a mineral from which arsenic is derived.
Since then, 808 people living in a community built to accommodate mine workers and their relatives have been diagnosed with arsenic poisoning.
Another 400 were found in nearby Heshan Village and 13 in Wangyangqiao Village, the county government said.
“For years, chemical wastewater, arsenic ash and sulfur dioxide were discharged without processing, severely polluting water and soil within 9 square kilometers and causing severe arsenic poisoning,” its statement read.
The government has begun a cleanup program, according to the Oriental Morning Post. Nearly 20 tons of chemical waste is to be cleaned and tainted soil restored by July.
In 2001, the local government started to build homes for the families of miners far from the mine, the newspaper said, but construction is only half finished.
In 2003, the local government ruled that chronic arsenic poisoning patients could get 1,000 yuan and cancer victims 10,000 yuan. Part of their medical expenses were paid by the government.
Liu Shuai, deputy director of the environment and resources office in Hunan, said a “policy bottleneck” was to blame for the insufficient medical relief.
The provincial authorities have been urged to allocate funds as soon as possible and include arsenic poisoning in the medical insurance system, the newspaper reported.
The plant started to produce arsenic in 1956. The severe pollution forced the plant to stop production in 1978. Other byproducts of realgar — sulfuric acid and phosphatic fertilizer — took its place.
However, the discharge of toxic waste didn’t end, and created worse pollution. In 2011, the plant was shut down. Now, only the plant hospital is still open.
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