Saturday's Wall Street Journal had more data on the lead poisoning in the village of Xinsi. Xinsi is a remote village in which a lead smelting plant was built in 1996. The central government has started trying to reduce pollution but they are stymied by local officials who agree to the construction of factories in a bid to improve the local economy, which improvement means a better job and more money for the local officials.
The factory was allowed to be built very close to a school, despite its constant emitting of noxious fumes. When the factory installed emission controls, they shut them down at night although the factory was emitting the stuff they were trying to control. Even after the factory was ordered to close, it kept going in secret.
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