Soil hazards lurk under the surface of China’s expanding cities
The mainland has yet to set standards to regulate rehabilitation of soil on former industrial land
The pollution scandal hanging over the Changzhou Foreign Languages School is a reminder of the potential environmental and health hazards of the multitrillion yuan market in rehabilitating former industrial land to make room for urban expansion.
About 500 pupils at the elite private school next to a contaminated site in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, have reportedly fallen ill, possibly due to soil and groundwater pollution. The city government has disputed the figure, saying only 133 pupils who underwent health checks reported abnormalities.
The city government decided in March 2014 to rehabilitate a 10- hectare parcel of land known as Changlong for commercial use.
The site’s soil and groundwater were severely polluted by three former chemical plants but an environmental official said money was set aside to excavate and then incinerate the contaminated soil, with the residue to be used to make cement.
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The project was scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2015 before the pupils moved into their new campus across the road. But the excavation was delayed as demand for cement dwindled, the official said.
The remedial project obviously failed to identify and effectively contain the environmental and health risks
When the pupils moved into the new campus, the polluted soil was still exposed to the air and there were strong smells from the site.