Sprol

Photo Credit: Adam Cohn

Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies.

When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been living with a malevolent curse for years. In fact, this town is now known as “Village of Death.” It has earned this name because, over time, cancer has claimed the lives of approximately 80 percent of the Shangba townspeople. It seems that no one living in Shangba, young or old, is safe from the threat of cancer.

Since 1987, there have been more than 250 confirmed cancer-related deaths. The majority of cancers have involved the liver and digestive system. Along with cancer, a significant number of Shangba citizens also suffer from skin disorders and kidney stones.

The source of this epidemic of cancer is most likely coming from the water, both river and ground water. Today the Hengshui River has been referred to as “The Dead River,” and with good reason.

Along the shore of the Hengshui, are sections of rocks that have been dyed a dark brown, almost rusty, color. Much of the rock is also covered with a mysterious matter and a black, metallic sediment extends along the shoreline. If there are any living creatures that frequent the banks of this dirty river, they are few and far between.

Villages have reported that they have not seen any shrimp or fish living in the waters of the Hengshui since around 1980. This fact, alone, points to a severe pollution problem that is having a deadly impact on the people and the environment along the Hengshui River.

Researchers from Huanan Agricultural University have reported that water samples collected after a recent flood were much more polluted than they had expected. Even after diluting the samples by a factor of 10,000, the results confirmed that no aquatic life could survive in the waters of the Hengshui for more than 24 hours.

Not only is the Hengshui’s water deadly where it flows around Shangba, it is even too toxic for use when it flows downstream and joins up with the Weng River. During periods of heavy rainfall, the toxic waters of the Hengshui extend as far as 100 to 200 kilometers downstream. Under normal river-flow conditions, the polluted waters typically extend around 50 kilometers.

This means that not only have the Shangba villagers been existing with this poisonous situation for over 30 years, but many more downstream are also being affected on a daily basis.

This pollution problem goes back as far as 1977, when townspeople started using well water because the Hengshui had become too contaminated to use. Not long after the wells were being utilized, even the wells began becoming contaminated and unfit for safe use.

Just how polluted this water has become is astounding. Reports from a Guangdong research institute determined that lead concentrations of up to 0.15 parts per million (PPM) have been found in well water. This is at least 15 times greater than levels permitted to be present in China’s drinking water.

It was under these excessively dangerous conditions, in the late 1980s, when the number of cancer victims began steadily increasing. After several years went by, mining companies and Chinese governmental authorities constructed a dam near Shangba, with the hopes of providing safe and clean drinking water for villagers.

Just last year, the dam was finally completed and residents were supposed to have a source of safe, unpolluted drinking water. What actually came out of the facets, however, was a dirty, brownish water. While this was not a direct result of pollution from mining wastewater, it was a result of seriously substandard water purification facilities.

What the poor people who live around the Hengshui are left with is water that must be allowed time to settle. Once the brown-tinted sediment settles to the bottom of a container, they can then skim off the cleaner water at the top.

When looking for the source of this devastating pollution crisis, it is important to look at the Dabaoshan Mine, which continues to cause serious environmental damage to the downstream villages. Dabaoshan is an open-pit mine. Big trucks loaded down with iron ore steadily come and go from the mine.

At one time, Dabaoshan was the biggest zinc mine in all of Asia. In fact, it seems even larger than the Kamioka Mine in Gifu Prefecture, which was the source of deadly cadmium poisoning that caused itai-itai disease. It is appears, however, that there are bigger mines in operation in China today.

Today, Dabaoshan Mine produces about 6,000 tons of copper and 850,000 tons of iron ore each year. The mine’s sludge and wastewater has contaminated somewhere around 585 hectares along the lower sections of the Hengshui River.

Mining for iron-ore exposes naturally occurring heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium, which are both carcinogens. Without adequate and up-to-date water treatment facilities, water tainted with high levels of these hazardous metals and have been linked to the development of various forms of cancer.

Fish kill in Donghu lake in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province
Photo courtesy of Guardian Unlimited

When you consider that agriculture is a mainstay for many in these small villages, like Shangba, it becomes necessary to look at how crops are being affected by this pollution. It has been reported that agricultural products grown in Shangba have an exceptionally high level of cadmium.

Research shows that rice contained as much as 0.96 parts per million (PPM) of the metal, which is five times the Chinese national standard. Other vegetable crops were reported to be similarly tainted. It is by drinking the polluted water and consuming foods containing such high levels of heavy-metal-toxins that so many people have developed and died from cancer in these small villages.

The pollution problems in China can also impact the United States’ food supply. The amount of food imported from China has steadly increased over the last decade. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that, in 2006, America imported $4.1 billion worth of agricultural products and seafood from China alone. In 1995, this number, considerably less, was still $800 million.

In fact, in June, as a result of the serious health implications of consuming contaminated food, the United States banned five different types of shrimp and fish from China because inspectors detected traces of cancer-causing chemicals as well as antibiotics in these products.

Today, it is estimated that this type of contamination continues affecting as many as 11,000 lives and 10 villages, however, the numbers are most likely much higher. The devastation being experienced in Shangba and neighboring Liangqiao are probably only the tip of the iceberg.

It is a known fact that throughout the extensive rural areas of China are vast numbers of poverty-stricken farmers. These farmers are being seriously affected by the collapse of farming villages and low agricultural productivity. The per-capita annual income of Shangba residents is 1,500 yuan (approximately 23,000 yen). This is only about one-seventh the disposable income of those who live in bigger cities in China.

For years now, pollution has been another obstacle added to the problems of China’s poor farmers. When pollution makes water unsafe to drink and leave crops not worth harvesting, the gap between the poor and the wealthy of China’s is exacerbated. Without money to go to the doctor or to seek sufficient medical treatment once fallen ill, many in these small villages are left with sick and dying people with no way out.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the health insurance system does not operate correctly in many villages. It is an all too common event for villagers to know they are sick, but be unable to afford treatment.

For the villagers of Shangba and many other villages neighboring the Hengshui River, when one falls ill, there is a strong probability that the sickness is cancer — something for which no one should have to postpone treatment.

The Chinese Ministry of Health has stated that China’s out-of-control pollution problem has helped make cancer the leading cause of death in the entire country. While pollution is a serious problem throughout China, they are not alone.

The United States along with China are among the top emitters of greenhouse gases, which many believe contribute to global warming. This year alone, in terms of total emissions, it has been projected that China will be awarded the title of world’s leading greenhouse gas producing country by the International Energy Association.

Today, China is making attempts to curb its pollution problems. In September, the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration closed about 400 companies for violations associated with water pollution. According to China Daily, the Administration also suspended 249 other businesses for various pollution-related reasons.

In additon to these actions, the Chinese government has announced a campaign aimed at cleaning up the country’s two largest river basins. It is the hope of the government to have a significantly cleaner country by the time China is set to host the Olympics.

Overall, this sounds like great news for the country, but how will this help those living in the villages and near dangerously-contaminated rivers like the Hengshui? The villagers are still poor and continue to fall ill to life threatening diseases, like cancer. The needs of the villagers for adequate medical care and clean drinking water are not their only needs.

While many of the villagers have figured out a way of piping clean drinking water down from a nearby mountain, they are still forced to utilize toxic water to irrigate their crops, bathe in and water their animals. Until this changes, their state of affairs will likely continue uninterrupted.