Shenzhen residents protest LCD plant's potential harm

Some 400 residents took to the street in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Saturday afternoon to protest the construction of a liquid crystal display (LCD) factory that they believe could harm their health.

The protesters walked around the construction site of the factory being built by Shenzhen Xunmei Technology Development Company in Nanshan district. They said the local government has not addressed their concerns or replied to their complaints since December.

"The factory is only 18 meters from Keyuan Garden Apartments, where my family lives, and it's about 25 meters from the kindergarten my daughter attends. We didn't know that they are building a LCD factory until a neighbor happened to read an official notice online in November," a resident surnamed Li told the Global Times.

According to the project's environmental assessment report issued by the Shenzhen Academy of Environmental Sciences, the pollutant produced by the plant will include benzene compounds, which are known carcinogens and can lead to cancer and other diseases. The factory plans to contain the pollutants by using an activated carbon filter and emissions would meet national standards, the report said.

However, residents said that they worry a leak could cause damage to their respiratory and nervous systems, and even leads to birth defects.

Li said that more than 10,000 residents from nearby neighborhoods have signed their names to a petition opposing the plant since last month. The plant has been under construction for half a year.

Local residents claim the Shenzhen Academy of Environmental Sciences surveyed only 91 area residents and office workers as part of their environmental assessment.

Only 38 residents of Keyuan Garden Apartments, which is home to 1,800 households, were asked for their input.

"It is unfair that only 38 residents from my neighborhood were surveyed, and the report should not only be published on the authority's website," Li said, noting that no public hearings were held to discuss the potential impact the plant might have on the neighborhood.