Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community
of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies. When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been living with a malevolent curse for years. In fact, this town is now known as “Village of Death.” It has earned this name because, over time, cancer has claimed the lives of approximately 80 percent of the Shangba townspeople. It seems that no one living in Shangba, young or old, is safe from the threat of cancer. Since 1987, there have been more than 250 confirmed cancer-related deaths. The majority of cancers have involved the liver and digestive system. Along with cancer, a significant number of Shangba citizens also suffer from skin disorders and kidney stones. The source of this epidemic of cancer is most likely coming from the water, both river and ground water. Today the Hengshui River has been referred to as “The Dead River,” and with good reason. Along the shore of the Hengshui, are sections of rocks that have been dyed a dark brown, almost rusty, color. Much of the rock is also covered with a mysterious matter and a black, metallic sediment extends along the shoreline. If there are any living creatures that frequent the banks of this dirty river, they are few and far between. Villages have reported that they have not seen any shrimp or fish living in the waters of the Hengshui since around 1980. This fact, alone, points to a severe pollution problem that is having a deadly impact on the people and the environment along the Hengshui River. Researchers from Huanan Agricultural University have reported that water samples collected after a recent flood were much more polluted than they had expected. Even after diluting the samples by a factor of 10,000, the results confirmed that no aquatic life could survive in the waters of the Hengshui for more than 24 hours. Not only is the Hengshui’s water deadly where it flows around Shangba, it is even too toxic for use when it flows downstream and joins up with the Weng River. During periods of heavy rainfall, the toxic waters of the Hengshui extend as far as 100 to 200 kilometers downstream. Under normal river-flow conditions, the polluted waters typically extend around 50 kilometers.
This means that not only have the Shangba villagers been existing with this poisonous situation for over 30 years, but many more downstream are also being affected on a daily basis. This pollution problem goes back as far as 1977, when townspeople started using well water because the Hengshui had become too contaminated to use. Not long after the wells were being utilized, even the wells began becoming contaminated and unfit for safe use. Just how polluted this water has become is astounding. Reports from a Guangdong research institute determined that lead concentrations of up to 0.15 parts per million (PPM) have been found in well water. This is at least 15 times greater than levels permitted to be present in China''s drinking water. It was under these excessively dangerous conditions, in the late 1980s, when the number of cancer victims began steadily increasing. After several years went by, mining companies and Chinese governmental authorities constructed a dam near Shangba, with the hopes of providing safe and clean drinking water for villagers.