Society

Five detained for toxic waste dumping in E China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-24 15:15

HEFEI: At least five people have been detained for dumping large amounts of toxic chemical waste in east China's Anhui Province, causing water and soil pollution in two counties, said investigators Thursday.

A spokesman with the Bozhou Bureau of Environmental Protection said no deaths or illness had been reported in connection with the pollution.

The bureau launched the investigation after local people reported the pollution earlier this month, he said.

"The waste contained in more than 1,000 barrels was dumped in roadside ditches and a pool. Some of the waste has spilled. Its toxic ingredients are ethylene dichloride, methanol, methane and nitrobenzol, which damage the central nervous system," said the spokesman.

The bureau had mobilized 1,000 people to collect the 395 tonnes of waste and polluted soil in Woyang and Lixin counties, he said.

A detained garbage dealer surnamed Yang, from Ruji Town of Xinli County said he was contracted to dispose of the waste by a local man surnamed Ren in the county. Ren told him that the waste came from a pharmaceutical plant in Dongyang City in Zhejiang Province.

Yang hired four local men to dump the waste.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection was involved in the investigation, said the spokesman.

The Bozhou environmental protection bureau asked the plant in Zhejiang to pay compensation for the environmental damage.

Environment workers found a 10-km section of the Fuwo River running through Xinli County has been polluted by the waste.