Large-scale mining mud crops are wrapped in dust. Children dare not go out and adopt dry tailings drainage technology.

     Hepu County, Beihai City, Guangxi, on the Maritime Silk Road, used to have beautiful coastal scenery and abundant aquatic products. The coastal mangroves occupy a large area of ​​China and are rare plants under national key protection.
However, ten years ago, private-owned quarries appeared along the coastline in Gongguan Town, Baisha Town, Hepu County, and other places. From the initial sporadic mining to large-scale mining, there are huge pits along the coastline and cofferdam mining. Reclamation of waste mines along the tidal flats has destroyed a large number of mangrove forests. Today, the once picturesque county town is devastated and dust ravaged, and the residents are miserable.
In mid-April, the reporter used an aerial camera to overlook the coastline of Baisha Town, Gongguan Town, and Zhakou Town. It can be seen that on the green ground or in the shrimp ponds, one by one dark gray huge pits like scars spread along the coastline. These huge pits are abandoned or mining quarries. According to the reporter’s field investigation, there are at least 20 giant pits in some areas of Baisha Town and Gongguan Town, which are conservatively estimated to cover an area of ​​more than 4,000 mu.

The Hepu County Land and Resources Bureau said in an interview with reporters that the land currently being mined before mining was barren slopes, abandoned shrimp ponds, and some were historical mining pits, all of which had obtained mining permits in accordance with the law. This statement was questioned by local village officials and villagers. They said that many mines used to be sloping fields with dense forests or crops; the so-called abandoned shrimp ponds were formed due to the leakage of some shrimp ponds caused by mining blasting and unable to raise shrimps; in addition; Some mines are cofferdams and tidal flats at the cost of destroying a large number of mangroves.
The emergence of a large number of stone yards and gravel yards has also brought serious environmental pollution. According to the reporter’s field estimation, the stone yard and gravel yard of Baisha Town and Gongguan Town are about 100 meters away from the village. The shock of the blasting of the stone field caused much disturbance to the residents. 65-year-old Luo Guangping has been teaching at Dushan Elementary School for 36 years. He said that in the past, there were times when a cannon was fired during class. There was a loud noise. The classroom was like an earthquake. The books on the desk would tremble, and some children cried with fright.
The reporter visited more than a dozen villagers’ homes, and the houses had cracks of varying degrees. The blasting also made the surrounding shrimp ponds unable to be cultured. Villager Mr. Luo told reporters that the loud sound of the blasting would scare the shrimp to death. At the same time, the vibrations caused many shrimp ponds around them to collapse and leak. As a result, the number of people raising seafood in the village has been reduced by more than half.
Compared with noise, dust pollution makes residents even more desperate. The most severely affected by the dust is the densely populated town center of Gongguan Town. Walking along the main road for one kilometer, the dust on the road is almost unbreathable, and the doors and windows on both sides of the street are closed. The source of dust is mainly from several gravel yards surrounding the town, plus the spillage and dust from the large transport trucks pulling the gravel. The reporter walked into the nearby Red Star Kindergarten, and the teacher told the reporter that the children hardly dared to do outdoor activities.
Regarding why no one in the town reported to the relevant department, the teacher reluctantly said, “You go to the town government to see it. The same is true. They have endured it for many years. What else can we do?”

On April 24, Lai Zhaoxia, secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of the Hepu County Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters on the phone that there are many complaints about the impact of dust generated by gravel yards and mines, and the Environmental Protection Bureau has also required enterprises to use “water spray” facilities in the gravel crushing process. “When we were at the site, they worked as required, and they stopped spraying as soon as they turned around,” she said. “The Environmental Protection Agency can’t always arrange people on site, and there is nothing to do with these polluting companies.”
Professor Wang Canfa, a well-known environmental law expert from China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with reporters that if the pollution facts that have already occurred are not rectified according to law, the Environmental Protection Agency should perform its legal duties and apply for enforcement by the court. Rather than allowing enterprises to continue to pollute, and administrative inaction.
Professor Wang Canfa said that there are several problems that have occurred here. The first is the destruction of the ecology. Large areas of mangroves have been destroyed. However, there are so many mines along the coast that have not been restored. The mineral resources management department should bear a heavy burden. Responsibilities, the collection of deposits for the restoration and governance of the mine geological environment should restore the environment.
The dust and vibration caused by local mining are air and noise pollution, which seriously affects the normal life of residents. The “Mineral Resources Law” and the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law” all have relevant provisions on compensation for the units or individuals that have directly suffered losses and take necessary remedial measures.

According to relevant laws, administrative agencies can also impose penalties on such violations. The environmental protection administrative department of the local people’s government at or above the county level or other departments that exercise supervision and management powers in accordance with the law shall order the cessation of illegal acts, correct them within a time limit and impose a fine.
Wang Canfa believes that in the future, the development of such coastal mineral resources should have an overall plan, and an overall environmental impact assessment should be made to assess whether it is suitable for mining.

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