Authorities to tackle 50-year smoldering coalfield fires in north China
- Source: Global Times
- [16:21 September 02 2010]
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North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region launched an initiative Wednesday to extinguish fires which have been smoldering for nearly 50 years at Wuda coalfields in Wuhai city and have caused serious air pollution, according to China National Radio.
There are 12 coal seams at the Wuda Coal Field in northwest Wuhai, and fires can be found in eight of the seams.
According to statistics released in 2001, there are 26 fire zones in the coal field, impacting an area of 3 million square meters (300 hectares).
Smoldering coalfield fires dating back to 1960s were formed due to factors including dry weather and improper coalmining practices which led to spontaneous combustions.
The local government overlooked this problem until the 1980s, when hundreds of illegal coal pits emerged, and the scale of the fires became apparent.
More than 18 million tons of coal have burnt in the region over half a century due to the smoldering fires.
The local government had previously earmarked an annual sum of 200 million yuan ($29.3 million) from 2008 to 2010 for fighting the fires, but this plan was never implemented.
According to the initiative, coal threatened by fire hazards is to be removed in order to stop the fires from spreading, and sand will be used to cover the fires.
The local environmental protection administration said that the carbon monoxide level in Wuda is five times higher than the national standard level.
The city also suffers from acid rain due to high content of sulfur dioxide in the air.
A doctor with Wuda Mining Company Hospital said that an increasing number of local residents suffer from respiratory diseases, which is definitely related to the air pollution.
