Soil decontamination in China heralds good results

A new method of improving soil quality that was trialled in China several years ago has heralded good results.

Back in 2000, the Shenyang Smelting Plant was dismantled, but the persistent heavy metal content in the soil around the plant posed a much greater problem.

Five years ago, however, authorities began using a new method to boost soil quality in the region and the area is once again thriving.

Shenyang, the capital of China's Liaoning Province, has been one of China's industrial heavyweights, but pollution has been an ongoing concern.

Wan Bentai, former chief engineer of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, has commended the reclamation efforts, which has boosted soil quality in a contaminated region measuring 216,000 sq km.

He told Xinhua that Shenyang Academy of Environmental Sciences, which took on responsibility for the contaminated site, was right to be awarded an accolade for scientific progress.

Officials from the China Environmental Sciences Institute have asked for the decontamination technology to be rolled out throughout the country as a means of tackling pollution.

Heavy metal waste in the Chinese town of Sanbao was recently flagged up as a potential health hazard after water quality in the region was affected by illegally dumped chromium compounds.

Posted by Claire Manning