Henan landfill threatens to pollute Beijing's drinking water

A giant mountain of rubbish in Henan province is threatening to pollute a reservoir that provides drinking water for more than 20 million Beijing residents, the Beijing News reported on Friday.

Xinglong county began depositing rubbish in Qingsongling rubbish dump in 1989. Once a 50-metre deep valley, the rubbish dump was completely full when it was closed in 2009. The rubbish mountain now occupies an area of 23,000 square metres.

The report said every time heavy rains hit the region, floods carry garbage along a small river to the Yangzhuang reservoir, which connects to Jinhai Lake, Beijing’s major water resource.

Officials of Urban Management Bureau who were supposed to oversee the site could not be reached for comment, the report said.

The local government built a dam next to the former rubbish site. “It is designed to stop rain from flushing refuse into the lower reaches, but it is absolutely useless,” residents of nearby Longwo village told the News.

Moreover, real danger comes from beneath. Zhao Zhangyuan from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences said that valleys were not suitable sites for use as rubbish dumps. The soil underneath was likely to be soft rock, he said, which could allow pollutants to leak through and contaminate ground water.