Nick Holdstock
Tuesday 16 April 2013 13:44 BST (The Independent)
Coal mining within the region has led to a major economic revival. But how has this prosperity benefited the nomads or the environment?
On April 21, 2011, farmer Wang Tao stood with his wife and grandson outside his sparse home where he used to grow corn, potatoes and wheat a stone's throw from a rare earth waste dump until toxic chemicals leaked into in the water supply system. And the poison was found on land near the city of Baotou in Inner Mongolia, northwest China. Farmers living near the tailings dam, a 10-square-kilometer expanse of toxic waste, say their teeth have fallen out and their hair has turned white, while tests show the soil and water contain high concentrations of cancer-causing radioactive materials.