Chinese officials admit toxic river leak after rare media reports

Chinese officials admit toxic river leak after rare media reports

Chinese authorities said Tuesday they had controlled a leak of toxic heavy metal into a river, after media outlets reported that officials had known about the i

It is a disaster that cannot be hidden: a Chinese copper mine has poisoned Zambia’s largest river. The ecological disaster in Kafue threatens Chinese power in Africa; Zambia is not the only one living under Chinese patronage there. And at the same time, another poisoned river, the Lei River in Chungcheongnam-do, is threatening millions of people in China. Its disaster has prompted Chinese newspapers to be extraordinarily open.

A River Crisis Prompts Rare Coverage - China Media Project

According to rare reports today from Chinese media, an environmental crisis is unfolding along a stretch of the Leishuei River in Hunan province that impacts the prefectural city of Chenzhou (郴州), home to more than four million people. Abnormal concentrations of thallium — a highly toxic, colorless heavy metal that causes organ damage and cancer through water contamination — have reportedly prompted the city to activate a Level IV emergency resp…