2015-03-06
Map shows Tongzi county in Guizhou province.
RFA
Pollution problems at a chemical plant in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou have now “improved” after an overhaul of its systems, an environmental official said on Friday, as villagers reported at least two more deaths and health problems they say are linked to local pollution.
Residents of Guizhou’s Tongzi county have reported foul smells, dead vegetation, and dust in recent months, which they claim is linked to pollution from the nearby privately owned Tongzi Coal Chemical Plant.
“Things have improved now, following readjustments to the staff and the equipment, and a complete change of management,” Tongzi county environmental protection bureau team leader Lin Kailiang told RFA on Friday.
“The equipment has been totally replaced or completely refitted,” Lin said, in the first official admission of problems at the plant.
Lin said former company director Wan Guojun had now been replaced.
“They have changed ownership and the name of the company,” he said. “This came about because of the accident due to a fault in their equipment.”
When contacted by RFA for comment on local residents’ allegations, Wan had previously vehemently denied any problems at the plant.
Lin said the formerly state-owned plant has now been relaunched as a private company.
“It’s privately owned now, and they have improved their pollution situation,” Lin said. “It’s fine now.”
‘Foul smells, dust’
The Tongzi anthracite coal-to-chemical plant uses gasification technology from the U.S.-based company GE to produce syngas, which then is used to produce methanol and ammonia, the Electric Light and Power website reported in 2012.
Residents of nearby Liaoyuan township have repeatedly complained of “foul smells” and “dust” emanating from the plant, suggesting that hydrogen sulphide and ash, two typical pollutants linked to coal gasification, were present.
According to U.S. government health and safety guidelines, people living near industries that emit hydrogen sulfide have an increased risk of eye irritation, cough, headache, nasal blockage, and impaired neurological function.
Arsenic is also a byproduct of the process, and can seep into groundwater if coal ash is dumped.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds are carcinogenic to humans, causing cancer of the lung, bladder, and skin, with some evidence of links to kidney, liver, and prostate cancers.
Meanwhile, Liaoyuan residents on Friday named two people who had died in the neighborhood in recent weeks.
One of them, 57-year-old Zhou Xianjun, died on Feb. 21, a resident who asked to remain anonymous told RFA.
“One of the villagers died of cancer. His name was Zhou Xianjun. He had cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer,” the villager said.
