Polluted farmland will be cordoned off
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 30, 2012
Shanghai's Chongming County government said yesterday it will compensate the villagers whose farmland was polluted by industrial waste dumping and the land will be cordoned off soon and no planting will be allowed.
A textile company should be held responsibilities for dumping wastes more than 10 years ago when proper procedures were not followed for handling them and prevent the pollution, said Wang Huijian, a deputy head of Shuxin Town. Shuxin is where a dump field was found on farmland to be polluted in Yuejin Village.
Wang said the land will be turned over to the government together with the wheat planted on it, and the farmers of the village will get compensation for losses.
"One thing is for sure, no crop will be planted on the land in the future," said Shi Bin, the deputy director with the county environmental protection bureau.
The wheat grown on the land, which will be harvested soon, will be sealed off for further inspection, Shi added.
The annual yield on the land, about 1,886 square meters, is worth about 3,000 yuan (US$473), said the government.
Villagers say the pollution is related to several illnesses, including cancers, of some farmers who consumed the crop and water from the land and the well close to the dumping field.
Yingchun Woolen Textile Company dumped wastes from wool processing, including dyeing materials, on the farmland first in 1998.
The factory, said the government, has been relocated in an industrial zone on the island.
County authorities stressed that soil restoration work will start on the island.
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