Pollution scandal near China nature reserve at Tengger desert’s edge
- Historical sites a danger to local groundwater, environmental group says
- Newly discovered dumping grounds in same area contaminated in previous national scandal
China’s environment ministry has launched a formal investigation into newly discovered pollution sites on the edge of the Tengger desert in the northwestern Ningxia Hui autonomous region, five years after the area came to national attention as a favoured dumping ground for untreated waste water.
Inspectors found 14 new polluted sites, covering a combined total area of 120,000 square metres, according to a report on Sunday by the local Communist Party newspaper Ningxia Daily. They are believed to be previously undiscovered historical dumping sites.
The news sparked immediate attention online, as the previous pollution had been so severe Chinese President Xi Jinping issued three specific orders to tackle the problem and more than 30 local cadres were punished or removed from office for their part in the dumping.
The latest sites were discovered near a national nature reserve in Zhongwei, a prefecture-level city in the western part of Ningxia, according to a Beijing-based environmental group which discovered several dumping sites inside a fast-growing forest on the edge of the desert.
The Beijing Fengtai Origin Enthusiast Environment Research Centre NGO said on Thursday, on its WeChat account – China’s popular online messaging app – that the sites lacked anti-leakage protection and posed a threat to local groundwater.
A volunteer for the NGO, surnamed Zhang, said he and his colleagues discovered the pollution sites during a research trip to the region in October. He refused to give his full name because of the sensitivity of the issue.