Xinhua Insight: China faces hard battle against soil pollution

China is facing a hard battle against soil pollution as heavy metals, lack of funding and loose supervision stand in the way.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources, about 16.1 percent of China's surveyed land is polluted by heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury.

In addition, 19.4 percent of surveyed arable land had levels of pollution higher than the national standard, according to Environmental Protection Minister Chen Jining. That means about 3.33 million hectares of arable land are not suitable for growing crops.

Soil pollution by heavy metals is especially severe in China's central and southwestern areas, with cadmium, mercury, arsenic and lead as the major pollutants, according to a 2014 report.

The pollution has contaminated crops, leading to health hazards and fueling environmental concerns.

In Baiyin City in northwest China's Gansu Province, the 38-km-long Dongdagou River was once the biggest source of pollution on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, with tens of millions of tonnes of heavy metal waste pouring into the Yellow River each year.

A test by Peking University showed that the silt in the Dongdagou River contained levels of cadmium 2,200 times the national standard, while mercury was 2,000 times higher.

"At first it was adults who were losing their teeth. Then it was children," said a resident. "Soon even goats that ate the grass near the river began to lose teeth."

Last month, various media outlets reported an alleged link between soil pollution and students' health in the eastern city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Blood samples taken from students at Changzhou Foreign Languages School reportedly showed abnormal readings after the children moved to the school's new campus near the former site of several chemical plants. The abnormalities are suspected to be linked to soil contamination.

Due to waste from the past, a lack of money and supervision, soil pollution remains a headache, said Qin Xiansheng, an environment official in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Last year, the central government allocated 2.8 billion yuan (430 million U.S. dollars) in funds to help with anti-pollution projects in 30 prefecture-level cities, but experts claim it was far from enough.

"Even with cheap restoration methods, it would take 300,000 yuan per hectare of land polluted by heavy metals, which means at least 6 trillion yuan is needed," said Lan Hong, an environment professor with Renmin University of China.

An official in Guangxi told Xinhua that a good number of nonferrous metal companies don't dispose of the waste they produce, instead leaving it to pile up and cause potential pollution.

"Meanwhile, many officials do not know much about standards, equipment or waste treatment methods in the nonferrous metal industry, making supervision quite inefficient," said the official, on condition of anonymity.

BACK TO HEAVEN ON EARTH

Even though the situation is bad, at least one locality is seeing good results in treating contaminated soil.

One of the country's most important areas with nonferrous metals, Guangxi's Huanjiang County, was once home to heavily polluted soil.

"In 2001, a huge flood crushed a mining company on the upper reaches of the local river, causing arsenic, lead and zinc to spill into crop fields near the river," said Qin Haifang, a farmer in Huanjiang. For years afterward, crops there contained excessive heavy metals.

Realizing the severe pollution, the local government organized experts to help restore soil in Huanjiang in 2005.

"Experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences came and spread lime powder and grew the arsenic-accumulating plant Pteris Vittala, which largely reduced heavy metal levels in the crops," said Qin Haifang.

In 2010, a national-level restoration project was launched to help ease Huanjiang's troubles, with the central government allocating 24.5 million yuan in funds to the locality.

"We received free heavy metal accumulating plants such as Pteris Vittala, Sedum alfredii and mulberry, which really helped improve the soil quality," Qin said.

So far, more than 85 hectares of crop fields have been restored to normal in the country's biggest soil restoration project, according to local environmental protection authorities.

Meanwhile, authorities nationwide are moving heaven and earth to clean up the country's polluted soil.

In late April, Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, said China would launch investigations into soil pollution, adding that efforts would be made to treat pollution and restore land to its normal state.

About 9.1 billion yuan will be allocated this year to treat soil pollution, up 145.6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Across China, authorities have launched similar projects for land pollution treatment and restoration in metal-rich areas in 10 provinces.

Meanwhile, a new regulation targeting soil pollution will be published this year, according to Chen Jining.

"Soil pollution treatment will be a long battle," said Li Fasheng, a researcher with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. Endi