Huge stockpile of toxic waste in 12 provinces

BEIJING - One million tons of untreated toxic industrial waste are piling up across China, risking environmental disasters like the recently exposed case in Yunnan province, a non-governmental organization has warned.

Earlier this month it was revealed that more than 5,000 tons of chromium residue were illegally dumped on roadsides and in mountains by a chemical factory in Yunnan's Qujing city, causing the deaths of 77 head of livestock.

Official tests found "excessive sexivalent chromium" in water in the area where the waste was dumped.