Liangqiao - A Chinese Village You Never Heard Of Where 4 Of 5 Deaths Is From Cancer - Mainichi

Liangqiao is just one of some 20 to 50 "cancer villages" throughout China that have been made to pay the price for the country's rapid economic growth. This series of articles is based on visits made in August 2007 -- a year prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing -- to the areas of China most heavily affected by environmental pollution. Liangqiao, with a population of 320, lies some 160 kilometers from the provincial capital of Guangzhou -- a massive metropolis of 10 million people. The village is nestled in a mountainous area about a three-hour drive from the city.

"This used to be an aquaculture pond a meter deep that was teeming with fish," notes He Bao fen (44), the village secretary for the Communist Party of China. Under his feet, though, was a cracked, reddish-brown field.

The color is the result of wastewater and sludge that has been draining into the river from an upstream mine since it started operating three decades ago. In addition to iron, which is the source of the red color, the river also contains high concentrations of cadmium, lead, and zinc, and it is too acidic to sustain life. With each heavy rainfall, river water floods the ponds and farm fields in the village.

Approximately 80% of the residents here who died over the past 20 years have succumbed to cancer. The situation in villages further downstream is quite similar. No full-scale epidemiological surveys have been conducted, however, and the link between the deaths and pollution has still not been established. While leaders in Beijing have begun to give greater attention to environmental policies, no relief action is as yet planned for Liangqiao.

EDIT

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071121p2a00m0na020000c.html

Hmm . . . wonder if the Olympic reporters will be getting "up close and personal" with Liangqiao's residents.