Chemical plant lead poisoning lawsuit ‘test of China’s resolve to tackle pollution’
Lawyers says residents suing the plant, claiming it has given children high traces of harmful metal in their blood, are being pressured into dropping the case
A lawsuit filed by residents of a town in China against a chemical plant they say is responsible for high levels of lead in the blood of children is shaping up as a test of the central government’s resolve to tackle pollution.
Of the more than 50 residents from in and around the rural town of Dapu in central Hunan province who originally agreed to join the lawsuit, only 11 remain, their lawyer, Dai Renhui, said.
Hu Shaobo, another lawyer advising on the case, said some plaintiffs had withdrawn under pressure from local government officials.
The lawsuit, described by lawyers as one of the first of its kind to be accepted by a court in mainland China, is scheduled to be heard next month.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation, although Dai declined to say if they had agreed on an amount.
China’s central government has declared “war on pollution” in the wake of mounting discontent over a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of the country’s water, skies and soil.