TAIZHOU, China, April 3 (UPI) -- Officials in east China said they sacked or suspended eight staff members over a growing lead-pollution emergency around a battery plant.
The move comes after the discovery that 172 people living in a village near the plant had elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Authorities in Zhejiang Province charged the eight, including the deputy chief of the environmental protection office in Taizhou city, with dereliction of duty after another four victims were discovered.
China's Xinhua news agency said Saturday that untreated emissions from the plant had seriously contaminated the soil and water around the plant. The plant manager was jailed after the emissions were discovered in March.
Lead can seriously damage a person's digestive, nervous and reproductive systems. None of the poisoned villagers was considered to be in a life-threatening condition.
