China plant in pollution scandal defies government ban on production

A chemical factory whose dumping of carcinogenic industrial chemicals is suspected of polluting local residents' water supplies has defied a government-issued ban on production. Located in Qujing, Yunnan Province, Luliang Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., one of Asia's largest producers of chromium sulfate, was ordered to halt production in August over concerns of its disposal methods for chromium residues. Xinhua reporters saw the factory continuing to operate this week, and local residents said it had resumed production around the end of September. Some villagers who had tried to stop factory operations were beaten and injured, they told Xinhua. The factory claimed that it had cleaned up the dumping sites, but chromium residues could still be easily found in areas near the factory. The company and Qujing's environmental protection watchdog, which oversees the ban, could not immediately comment on the case. No human deaths have been attributed to chromium pollution, but at least 14 local residents have been diagnosed with cancer since 2002 and many suspect their diseases were caused by contaminated drinking water. Local police in August detained five people associated with the company in connection with the company's dumping of 5,000 metric tons of chromium-contaminated waste near the Chachong Reservoir and on nearby hills from April to June. Rainfall in June washed some of the chemicals into local water supplies, causing the deaths of 77 heads of cattle.