Teams search for source of pollution in Shandong

Chinese web users are paying great attention to a post on a microblog, accusing some industrial companies in China's eastern Shandong province of discharging sewage deep into the ground, affecting village water supplies.

An official investigation has since been carried out. CCTV reporter Wang Xinye finds out how badly the water has been polluted.

None of the villagers in Hanting district, the industrial area Weifang city, drink water that was pumped from the wells. They say it's undrinkable.

There are several textile companies near the village. Locals know very clearly that they are the source of the water pollution, yet they aren't willing to talk.

The supervision team from the provincial environment protection department was stopped by guards at the suspected textile company during their investigation. They had to break in to search for the source of the pollution that was turning the water red.

Red plastic bags and buckets were found to be scattered around. Even this dog's fur had turned red.

But, no discharged sewage was found. When the manager of the factor showed up, he said there was not much sewage discharged.

Yu Wenbin, manager of Hongda Pigment Company, said, "We don't discharge sewage. The production is not much. And the sewage pool has never been full."

After a long stand-off with the supervision team, the manager was forced to provide an environmental assessment report. It turned out that the company started production in 1999 but didn't get environment approval till 2002. When being asked why the company had not been punished, the head of Hanting district environment protection bureau couldn't provide a convincing answer.

The company's assessment report shows an annual production of over 1000 tons with nearly 4000 tons of sewage that it fully recycled. The team has found no traces of treatment but it did find many documents about well drilling around the area.

The investigation is still on going. Xinhua news agency has posted on its microblog that the Weifang city government has screened over 700 companies without finding evidence of pollution. But those who report such cases will receive a reward of 100, 000 yuan.