【禁聞】採礦亂象 致重金屬污染糧食

【新唐人2011年3月1日訊】媒體披露中國部分「糧食產區」受重金屬污染。專家指出，中共政府允許地方擁有中小礦產開發的審批權，導致「一哄而上」的採礦亂象。絕大多數礦山只為了開發極少數礦石，卻破壞了人們賴以生存的自然環境。部分受污染的土地要等一百年後才可能回覆。

《中國經濟週刊》2月22號報導，中國大陸因濫採、濫挖礦產，部分農田受到重金屬嚴重污染。以雲南省紅河州個舊市為例，這個被稱為「錫都」的小鎮，面積1587平方公里，超過45萬的人口（45.33萬），蘊藏錫礦超過90萬噸，佔全國三分之一。隨處可開挖的錫礦，雖然讓村民很快富裕起來，不過，因政府沒有妥善規劃，形成「全民辦礦」的亂象，伴隨錫礦而來的卻是有毒物質－「砷」，當地因「砷中毒」出現了幾個「癌症村」，人民平均壽命不足50歲，被污染的土地和地下水難以回覆，清水和蔬菜都要到幾百里外去買。

根據中科院「地理科學與資源研究所」（環境修復研究中心）的論文資料顯示，截至2008年，中國大陸因濫採錫礦，造成至少116.7萬噸的「砷」散落在各地，相當於百萬噸的砒霜，在雨水沖刷下污染河川與土壤。

不只雲南，在廣西環江毛南族自治縣，百年一見的洪水，在2001年衝垮了上游廢棄的尾砂壩，導致下游萬畝多的農田遭到污染，有毒物質最高超標246倍，臨近的刁江100多公里沿岸，全部污染。直到2004年，當地仍有六成田地寸草不生。專家憂心，毒水如經由刁江進入珠江水系，將污染整個珠三角地區，超過上億人受害，污染的環境要等一百年後才可能回覆。

不只如此，湖南、四川、貴州等部分地區，也成為重金屬污染災區。國土資源部曾公布，中國每年有1200萬噸糧食遭到重金屬污染，每年這些糧食足以多養活4000多萬人，一旦流入市場，後果將不堪設想。

社科院工業經濟所研究員羅仲偉認為，上個世紀80年代中期以來，中共政府實行「大礦大開，小礦放開，有水快流」的政策，允許地方政府擁有中小礦產資源開發的審批權，形成一哄而上，「全民辦礦」的亂象。以廣西環江為例，絕大多數礦山沒有石排場和尾礦庫，大量廢石和尾礦就堆放在山上，除了暴雨來臨時形成泥石流，尾礦中的有毒物質在雨水沖刷下逐漸擴散，污染周邊環境。

另一個來源是裸露堆放的礦渣，在雲南個舊巿，十幾萬噸「砷渣」已經裸露堆放在當地幾十年，為阻止污染擴大，農民在周圍堆砌了土壩，但有毒物質通過雨水進入地下水。附近農作物含砷量超標100多倍。

一位科學家告訴《中國經濟週刊》記者，幾年前他受邀到一處全國知名的糧食主產區檢測重金屬污染問題，結果令他震驚，他把監測報告交給當地一位高級官員，但這位官員想了很久說：這個情況非常嚴重，但目前我們無能為力，所以請不要告訴外界我看過這份報告。

這名記者追查發現，中科院「地理科學與資源研究所」（環境修復研究中心）有多篇學術論文，可能遭到掩蓋，內容顯示：廣東連南、廣西南丹、湖南常甯、湖南常德、湖南郴州等地存在大量廢棄砷渣，周圍農作物含砷量超過國家標準幾百倍。

但是，「湖南國家糧食品質監測中心」向媒體表示，中心並沒有檢測糧食重金屬含量的相關項目。另外，「湖南省糧油產品品質監測站」也說，單位沒有針對湖南任何地區的糧食「重金屬含量」做過檢測，所以沒有資料數據提供。

新唐人記者曾耀賢、周平綜合報導

Excessive Mining Causing Heavy Metal Pollution in Crops

Some of China』s farmland has been contaminated

by heavy metal due to excessive mining enabled by

the lack of government control. Experts say that

such mining exploits small and medium-scale mines

at the cost of the natural environment.

Some polluted land will take 100 years to recover.

On Feb 22, China Economic Weekly revealed

the severity of heavy metal pollution in farmland

caused by excessive mining.

Gejiu, a county-level city Yunnan Province,

is known as “tin city”.

With a population of more than 450,000, Gejiu's

tin reserves at over 900,000 tons account for

1/3 of the national total and 1/6 of global stock.

Due to the lack of government control,

as people profit from this natural bounty,

the accompanying toxic heavy-metal arsenic produced

in the mining process is left untreated,

causing cancer among residents. As a result,

the average life expectancy of Gejiu

is less than 50 years.

Local residents have to purchase water and vegetables

hundreds of miles away.

Research data released by the Institute of Geographic

Sciences and Natural Resources Research shows that

1.167 million tons of arsenic produced in mining

has been discharged into China』s environment by 2008.

In 2001, a tailing dam in Guangxi's Huanjiang Maonan

Autonomous County collapsed in a major flood.

The floodwater laced with heavy metals inundated

fields along the 100-kilometer Diaojiang River.

By 2004, 60% of the contaminated land was not yet

farmable. Experts worry, if the polluted water

entered the Pearl River system,

hundreds of millions of people would be affected.

The environment will take 100 years to recover.

Other areas including Human, Sichuan, and Guizhou

also suffer from heavy metal pollution.

China's Ministry of Land and Resources estimated,

each year 12 million tons of grain in the country

was contaminated, enough to feed 40 million people.

Luo Zhongwei, a researcher with the Institute of

Industrial Economics, believes local government,

which was given the power to ratify the exploitation

of small and medium-scale mines by the CCP central

government in 1980s, should be held accountable for

the chaotic situation in the country's mining industry,

which is ill regulated and lacks overall planning.

Exposed mining waste is another source of pollution.

In Gejiu, hundreds of thousand tons of arsenic waste

has been left uncovered and untreated for decades.

The heavy metals are absorbed by crops through water

and soil pollution, causing local produce to contain

arsenic 100 times over the safety level.

A scientist told China Economic Weekly that he was

invited to examine the heavy metal pollution

in one of China』s major grain production areas.

He was shocked by the result and gave the report

to a senior official, who said,

the situation is serious.

But we can do nothing about it.

Please don』t tell others that I』ve read the report.

Investigation reveals that several scientific reports

by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural

Resources Research may have been covered up.

Such reports showed severe arsenic contamination

in Guangdong』s Liannan, Guangxing』s Nandan,

and Hunan』s Changning, Changde, and Chenzhou.

Arsenic concentration found in crops in those areas

was hundreds of times over the national safety level.

However, both the Hunan National Grain Quality

Control Center and the Hunan Grain and Oil Products

Quality Control Station denied that any test on

heavy metal contamination in crops was ever conducted.

NTD reporters Zeng Yaoxian and Zhou Ping。