China cancer village tests law against pollution
Nothing in Wu Wenyong’s rural childhood hinted he would end up on a hospital bed aged 15, battling two kinds of cancer…3 km…from Wu’s home stands a three-story high hill of chromium slag produced from the Yunnan Luliang Peace Technology Company. The runoff from chromium-6, listed as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, seeped into the Nanpan, turning its waters yellow…[A] coalition of environmental advocacy groups, who have filed a public interest lawsuit for residents of Xiaoxin and nearby Xinglong in a special environment court…The groups want the privately owned company to establish a 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) compensation fund for an environmental clean-up…The company declined Reuters’ request for an interview… In September, the local government arrested five people for the dumping and ordered the company to halt production of chromium and sodium dichromate...Li said he was “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for victory in the Qujing case — which he said he had raised in his discussions with the government.