Response from government

The city government has provided blood tests for 2,743 children under the age of 14, who lived near three major smelters, and 968 of them had excessive lead levels.

It has also suspended production at 32 of the 35 electrolytic lead plants and on the pollution-prone production lines of the other three major plants.

Environment protection inspectors were stationed in the three big plants: Yuguang Gold and Lead Group, Wanyang Smeltery Group and Jinli Smelting.

All children living within 1,000 meters of the smelters had been moved away, with allowances and assistance in education provided by the government.

The government also organized a trip by representatives of villagers to Fengxiang of Shaanxi Province, in a move to ease the villagers' anxieties.

Positive signs

Jiyuan was considered "seriously polluted" in 2003 and listed as the second worst among all cities in Henan Province, which was an alarm for local authorities and enterprises, said Mayor Zhao Suping.

The city decided to eliminate the sintering pot techniques, which usually cause serious environmental pollution, in all lead smelters in 2004, and began to close down backward production facilities in the cement, iron and power industries in the following year.

So far, the air quality in Jiyuan has been rated as "good" over the past three years, said Zhao.

The mayor said that the city was planning to reduce the amount of lead in waste gases from lead smelters by nearly half.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2009)