China's "Most Liveable New Township" A Cesspool Of Toxins, Cancer, Gov. Says - AFP

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A Chinese town that has won more than 30 awards for its clean environment over the past decade has become a heavily polluted cesspool with abnormally high cancer rates, state media said Thursday. The town of Dawang in eastern Shandong province has won accolades including "China's Most Livable New Township", but recent development spurt has made a mockery of those awards, the Beijing News reported.

An investigation by the newspaper found that the town was choked by smog and water pollution due to years of "illegal operations" by industrial companies based there. "Within the town, not a single ditch with pure water is to be found, air pollution is serious, and groundwater pollution is another source of concern," the paper said.

Provincial government studies of the town's water in April found chemical oxygen demand levels -- a measure of water pollution -- nearly three times normal.

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A spokesman for the town's Communist Party committee dismissed the pollution concerns. "Industrialisation has been fast, so increased pollution is to be expected. What's the big deal?" Bu Chunyan was quoted as telling the paper.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2007/070719091351.j0m4fnuy.html

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1. A relative of mine just got back there last week

He said in Peking people wear the masks because of the air pollution. Everyone in their group got food poisoning, luckily an MD was traveling in the group. It's amazing there's a billion people living in that country with all that pollution. Of course, who caused the pollution?