Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Songjiang district of Shanghai this weekend to protest against a landfill and garbage incinerator, as a string of environmental protests sprung up across China, AFP reports.
Fumes from the towering garbage dump, which reaches 17 meters (19 yards) high and covers an area the size of a football field, can make people vomit and iares believed to cause birth defects. Officials proposed a garbage incinerator worth 250 million yuan ($40 million) to solve the overflowing garbage in the landfill. However, residents said that the incinerator would emit dangerous toxins.
Chinese activists are protesting against lack of thought of the cost to the environment of the country’s rapid economic development. China’s worsening environmental issues sparked numerous protests, particularly criticizing the government’s lack of transparency. People said that they want to hold the government more accountable to the country’s health and environmental problems. Just this month, several factories in Jian were shut down due tolead poisoning.
