Chinese Officials Confirm At Least 1,200 Deaths, Illnesses From Hunan Arsenic Mine

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More than 1,200 people living close to a realgar mine in central China’s Hunan Province have fallen victims to decades-long arsenic refining, local authorities announced following media reports that arsenic poisoning caused at least 500 mine workers to die from cancer.

The refinery opened in Shimen County in 1950 after the discovery of Asia’s biggest deposits of realgar, a mineral from which arsenic is derived.

Since then, 808 people living in a community built to accommodate mine workers and their relatives have been diagnosed with arsenic poisoning.

Another 400 were found in nearby Heshan Village and 13 in Wangyangqiao Village, the county government said. “For years, chemical wastewater, arsenic ash and sulfur dioxide were discharged without processing, severely polluting water and soil within 9 square kilometers and causing severe arsenic poisoning,” its statement read.

EDIT

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/national/Refinery-blights-lives-of-over-1200/shdaily.shtml

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1. China, the Omelas of the industrialized world