Factory shut down for dumping toxic waste in China's fourth-largest desert
But textiles factory will move operations to a new facility as local officials believe this will stop illegal dumping
A textile dye factory in Ningxia that had been dumping toxic acid waste water in the Tengger Desert has been shut down for good.
Ningxia Mingsheng Dye Chemical Company, located on the edge of the Tengger Desert, was shut down and will be demolished withthis year on the orders of the municipal government of Zhongwei in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
The government also ordered the plant to restore the environment, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The report said sand behind the plant had changed in colour to dark green or brownish red. Red water with a strong acidic smell has also been dumped in the desert.
The report did not specify the chemicals in the waste, but said it contained “a high concentration of acid” mixed with lime to make calcium sulfate.
The factory’s waste water tank, the size of two football pitches, was filled with black and red water, with some material turning solid. The waste leaked into nearby sand, causing huge blocks of red-coloured sand to form, rising from the ground like small mountains.
The news of the shutdown comes a day after authorities announced an investigation into reports of illegal dumping in the Inner Mongolia desert, whose rich groundwater resources could be contaminated by industrial waste.