AUTHORITIES are investigating allegations that a pig farm in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, dissolved pig carcasses in alkaline solution and flushed untreated waste down a sewage pipe into the Xiangjiang River, the biggest river in the province.
Local residents are upset about the alkaline hydrolysis process used by Hunan Tianxin Livestock Corporation to dispose of dead pigs. They said the company has more than 10 pits connected with sewage pipes. Each pit can hold tens of dead pigs.
They said the company also dumped dead pigs randomly and let the carcasses to decompose under the sun, a local newspaper, Sanxiang City Express, reported today.
Though the company insisted that its method of disposal posed no harm to the environment, local environment officials said they had never heard of this method before, the paper said.
One official named Li Yi said the company did violate the regulations as it dumped "black odorous waste with fecal residues" into the river and is polluting the source of the city's drinking water.
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