Permalink: https://media.greenpeace.org/archive/Polluted-River-in-China-27MZIFJXHNU40.htmlConceptually similarPolluted River in Farmland in Hunan Province, ChinaGP0STRBQ4Completed★★★★Mining Wastewater in Corn Field in ChinaGP0STRBQACompleted★★★★★★Mining Wastewater in Rice Field in ChinaGP0STRBQBCompleted★★★★Lead-zinc Mine Reserve in Hunan Province, ChinaGP0STRBPTCompleted★★★★★★Victim of Heavy Metal Pollution in ChinaGP0STRBRSCompleted★★★★Tailing Ponds of Taifeng Mining Company in Hunan Province, ChinaGP0STRBQ5Completed★★★★Funeral of Victim of Heavy Metal Pollution in ChinaGP0STRBRTCompleted★★★★Funeral of Victim of Heavy Metal Pollution in ChinaGP0STRBRUCompleted★★★★Victim of Heavy Metal Pollution in ChinaGP0STRBRRCompleted★★★★View AllGP0STRBPUPolluted River in ChinaAerial view of a polluted river in Laowangzhai village, Hunan Province.Decades of intense and unregulated mining activities have resulted in more and deeper scars in the hills of this farming area. In the past, local villagers were able to use the streams coming from the mountains for drinking water and for irrigation, but now there is no clean water available and what flows from the hills when it rains is the milky white wastewater that makes its way into the farmland and river.In original language:航拍农田中的污水长达几十年的野蛮开采导致山上矿洞密集,以前村民可以使用山上的溪水用来饮用和灌溉,但现在已无水可用,每当下雨时,山上流下的都是乳白色的污水,污水最终流入农田、汇入河流。Locations:Asia-China-East Asia-HunanDate:8 Aug, 2016Credit:© Qiu Bo / GreenpeaceLatitude:28°32'26.58"NMaximum size:3992px X 2992pxLongitude109°20'46.94"EKeywords:Aerial view-Agricultural land-Day-KWCI (GPI)-Metals-Mining-Outdoors-Pollution-River pollution-Rivers-Toxic waste-Toxics (campaign title)-WaterShoot:Landscapes and Farmland in Lead and Zinc Mining Polluted Area in Hunan Province, ChinaTuanjie, Biancheng, Longtan and Maoer are neighboring villages in Huayuan county, Xiangxi autonomous prefecture, Hunan province, China. Hunan is China’s largest rice producer, but the province’s fertile rice paddies are interspersed with heavy metal mines, a combination that has led to dangerously high levels of soil pollution.Yet available information about the extent of soil pollution in Hunan is limited.Two decades of lead and zinc mining in these villages has taken a major toll. The population of the villages, most of who are ethnically Miao, has experienced severe health impacts as a result of heavy metal exposure.Eighty to 90 percent of the population in these five villages has kidney stones, and, each year, an average of 40 additional patients suffer from uremia, a complication of chronic kidney disease. In 2014, blood lead levels of all but one child tested in the villages exceeded the national standard.In response, residents petitioned the local government and were seen blocking trucks heading to and from the mine to ask for compensation.Greenpeace East Asia tested soil samples from the area. For the majority of samples, cadmium, arsenic, lead and zinc exceeded the national standard. Rice samples also tested above the national standard for chromium and lead, and, in several cases, arsenic. A more detailed breakdown of the results is available.Related Collections:Lead and Zinc Mine Tailing Ponds Surrounding Villages in Hunan Province, China