Factories investigated for 'emptying waste water into Inner Mongolia desert'

Authorities in Inner Mongolia are investigating reports that illegal industrial waste water is once again being discharged into the southern Tengger Desert.

Experts fear the pollution could permanently damage groundwater sources.

Citing an official at Tengri industrial park, The Beijing News reported the park and the local Alxa League government were investigating.

According to a report in the paper at the weekend, chemical engineering factories at Tengri industrial park had been pumping polluted water into the desert.

The official, surnamed Chen, told the paper local authorities had closed 15 factories in 2012 after state television unveiled a similar case. But a lack of supervision by local authorities might have allowed the problem to reoccur, Chen said.

Despite extensive media coverage of the scandal two years ago, several waste-water ponds were found in the desert, each larger than a soccer pitch, when reporters from the Beijing-based newspaper visited the area.