Industrial Pollution Kills Hundreds of Wild Birds in Inner Mongolia

More than 500 dead wild water birds appeared in the lake areas of Inner Mongolia since this summer as a result of water pollution. The poisonous water, as reported by local herdsmen, came from factories from a nearby eco-industrial area. Annie Lee from China Hush wrote a photo feature on the situation.

1 comment

  • WKBayern

    My small contribution about environmental problems in Inner Mongolia:

    Jost Wübbeke from the University of
    Berlin writes that mining of coal and rare earths contributes a lot
    to pollution. It consumes precious water resources and creates toxic
    waste. An example is a facility of the state enterprise Baogang in
    the town of Baotou, that extracts rare earths. Production waste
    that contains thorium, sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid is
    disposed in a large tailings pond, that comprises 10 km². The
    inhabitants of the nearby villages of Xinguang and Dalahai started to
    suffer from diseases like osteoporosis, and lost their teeth. The
    cancer rate went up and their immune system was weakened.

    Baogang has had a program to resettle
    the inhabitants to modern housing estates in the district of
    Kundoulun. But the contribution of 800 renminbi per square metre
    seems to be rather expensive for the people.

    Jost Wübbeke writes in his conclusion,
    that China has now extensive environmental legislation. But the
    persons concerned have insufficient political power and influence to
    turn legislation into action.

    Source: Jost Wübbeke, Bergbau in der
    Inneren Mongolei – Umweltverschmutzung und Konflikte. 2012, PDF.

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