Poisonous Land Incident in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province： School Location, Ambush, Physical Examination of Students, Attention

　　Xinhua News Agency, Nanjing, April 19th: The school is located 100 meters away from the "poison land" — — Tracing chemical pollution incidents in Changzhou schools

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Qin Huajiang, Chen Gang and Yang Shaogong.

　　On one side is the plot polluted by three chemical plants seven years ago, with an area the size of several football fields; On the one hand, there is a school that has just settled in, and it always smells pungent. There is only one road between the two.

　　It should be a safe place to study, but the school site is built next to the "toxic plot"; Should be healthy boys and girls, but the body appears abnormal symptoms such as abnormal blood indexes and leukopenia. Over the past few days, 500 students in changzhou foreign languages school have been suspected of being poisoned by contaminated plots in chemical plants, which has aroused widespread concern in society.

　　It should be prudent to build schools in environmentally sensitive areas, but why should schools be built only 100 meters away from the "toxic land"? Why didn’t the EIA warning get attention? Why is there such a big difference between spontaneous physical examination and tissue physical examination? Xinhua News Agency reporters rushed to the local area to investigate.

　　The disaster of site selection: the "time bomb" buried seven years ago

　　Since the plot is "toxic", why did changzhou foreign languages school choose this site?

　　The reporter learned that Changwai is the first choice for many local parents to choose schools because of its high teaching level. Before the relocation in 2015, the original school site could not meet the needs of the school’s reform and development due to the increasing number of students and insufficient teaching and auxiliary resources, and the earthquake-proof coefficient of the house was low, so it needed to be rebuilt.

　　And this problem, Changzhou "took a lot of brains." According to the Changzhou Municipal Government, in recent years, the urban population has further gathered in Changzhou High-tech Zone and Industrial Park, and Xinbei District is in urgent need of richer educational resources. The reconstruction and relocation of changzhou foreign languages school in different places can not only ease the traffic pressure on the main roads in the original area of the school, but also greatly improve the overall level and comprehensive strength of education in the northern new city.

　　According to the plan made by Xinbei District of Changzhou City, Changwai New Campus is located in the west of Tongjiang Road, south of Liaohe Road and north of Qiandaohu Road (Longhu Street). This plot was originally a Pacific Electric Machinery Factory and a natural village. Although it is not the original chemical plant plot, it is less than 100 meters away from the original chemical plant plot, and the "time bomb" was buried.

　　According to the reporter’s investigation, the contaminated plots of original chemical plants include the original sites of Jiangsu Changlong Chemical Co., Ltd., Changzhou pesticide plant, Changzhou Huada Chemical Plant and Changzhou Changyu Chemical Co., Ltd., with a total area of about 26.2 hectares. Because the chemical plant is polluted and smells too strong, the surrounding residents have a strong reaction. As a result, the government ordered enterprises to move into the new district. Since then, this plot has been idle.

　　In May, 2009, the relocation of chemical enterprises in this plot started. Complete the relocation of the former Changlong Chemical and other enterprises before June 2011. The project was established in 2013, and the land restoration project was officially implemented in March 2014.

　　According to the earlier local planning, the contaminated original chemical plant plot was originally planned to be used for commercial development after restoration, and the restoration project was undertaken by Changzhou Black Peony Construction Investment Co., Ltd. As the design guidance unit of the soil remediation project of the relevant plots, Changzhou Academy of Environmental Sciences originally scheduled to complete the soil remediation in June last year. However, because the cement enterprises that received the pollutants for harmless treatment could not produce normally, there was no clear time for the remediation, but the relevant departments did not make corresponding plans for this change.

　　The problem doesn’t stop there. Xu Puqing, president of Changzhou Academy of Environmental Sciences, said that in the process of restoration, the contractor and the constructor should have carried out closed operations according to the plan issued by the relevant departments, but they ended up working in the open air, and the related environmental risks were not controlled.

　　Ecological risk: toxic plots are not repaired and schools are built.

　　Since it is a "toxic plot", what is the EIA result of the new site of the school?

　　According to the reporter’s investigation, the EIA report, which is the basis of the school, was approved on March 31, 2012, but the foundation stone laying time of the school was August 21, 2011, which was questioned as unapproved construction.

　　In response, the local authorities responded that the foundation stone was laid before the EIA, but it was not officially started. The specific start time was October 2013, and the project construction was completed in July 2015. After the school met the indoor air quality test standards, it was officially put into use in September 2015.

　　The environmental impact assessment report of the New North Campus Project of Changzhou Senior Middle School in Jiangsu Province issued by Changzhou Environmental Protection Research Institute shows that the influence of soil and groundwater pollution in the surrounding sites has become an important hidden danger to the school environment.

　　According to the report, the soil and groundwater of the original site of Changlong (Huada, Changyu) Company in the north of the project have been polluted, and there are human health risks and ecological risks. At the same time, it is suggested that air pollution will occur after the restoration of the original site of Changlong and other chemical plants. If the school is put into use before the restoration and acceptance of the site, it will have an impact on the health of teachers and students at school. According to the Changzhou Municipal Government, since late December, 2015, soil remediation in the former Changlong, Huada and Changyu chemical blocks on the north side of changzhou foreign languages school has given off peculiar smell.

　　In fact, the school started construction as early as October 2013 and was officially put into use in September 2015. This shows that the site selection of the school will be built before the land is repaired, and the relevant departments have not paid attention to the possible pollution; The restoration of contaminated plots that should have been completed before the school starts was unexpectedly postponed, but the school relocation plan was not adjusted and still put into use as usual, resulting in increasing environmental risks.

　　Health Debate: Why is there such a big difference between spontaneous physical examination and tissue physical examination?

　　Changzhou foreign languages school is the first choice for many local parents because of its high teaching level. But since the end of last year, this school has become a nightmare for many students and parents.

　　"I am worried every day, and my daughter has checked out lymphadenopathy." A parent of a student surnamed Qin told the reporter that in December last year, the surrounding original chemical plant plot was dug up and repaired, and the pungent smell became heavier and heavier, and the child developed symptoms such as drowsiness and dandruff. On January 10th or so, his daughter was diagnosed with lymphadenopathy. After more than a month, she was examined again, and one side was reduced to half of the original, while the other half remained unchanged.

　　A "Summary Table of Voluntary Physical Examination Results of Grade 7-8 Students in changzhou foreign languages school" signed by changzhou foreign languages school, Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Changzhou Middle School in Jiangsu Province, on March 11th shows that among 641 samples, 493 people have abnormal symptoms such as dermatitis, eczema, bronchitis, abnormal blood indexes and leukopenia.

　　In response to the abnormal situation of students’ examination indicators, the Changzhou Municipal Government said that it organized an expert group to conduct a special analysis, and the relevant test data was quite different from that provided by parents, but there were more than 100 abnormal indicators. According to the data put forward by the medical expert group organized by Changzhou Municipal Health Planning Commission, from January 11th to February 29th at 9: 00 am, there were 597 out-of-hospital students in eight hospitals in the city, and 133 of them had abnormal examination indexes, including 71 thyroid nodules, 22 cervical lymphadenopathy, 17 thyroid nodules with cervical lymphadenopathy, 5 abnormal liver functions, 8 abnormal renal functions, 3 bronchitis, 2 thyroiditis and left inguinal lymph nodes.

　　In response to parents’ report that some students were suffering from lymphoma due to contaminated land, Hua Fei, head of the medical expert group of Changzhou Health Planning Commission and vice president of Changzhou First People’s Hospital, said that one case was diagnosed before the school moved and is currently being treated.

　　In a joint letter written by "all parents in changzhou foreign languages school" to "leaders of governments at all levels, environmental protection, education and letters and visits departments" on January 8th, parents questioned "which is more important: children’s health or project development".

　　The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environmental Protection attach great importance to the environmental pollution around changzhou foreign languages school, Jiangsu. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Jiangsu Provincial Government have set up a joint investigation team and will go to Changzhou for on-site investigation. The Office of the State Council Education Steering Committee has launched a special supervision mechanism for major emergencies in education, and the national inspectors have taken the lead in going to the local area for special supervision. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said that the relevant information will be announced to the public in a timely manner after the investigation. According to the Ministry of Education, the supervision team will announce the relevant supervision situation in a timely manner to effectively safeguard the physical and mental health of students.

　　The reporter will further follow up the progress of the chemical pollution incident in Changzhou schools.