Wilson Center Targets Soil Pollution in China

The Wilson Center hosts "Dealing with a Toxic Legacy: Soil Pollution in China" on Thursday, September 18, to bring greater scrutiny on the convergence of toxic waste and agriculture that has resulted in China's soil contamination crisis. Nearly one-fifth of China's farmland is polluted.

"Soil Pollution in China," a three-part series by Chinese investigative reporter He Guangwei supported by the Pulitzer Center, examines this widespread poisoning of China's arable soil by cadmium and other industrial pollutants.

At the Wilson Center session, Isabel Hilton, founder and editor of chinadialogue, will highlight some of the researchers and NGOs investigating and promoting transparency on soil pollution. Qing Wang, senior environmental specialist at The World Bank, will discuss new World Bank projects that focus on soil clean-up of industrial sites across China. Jennifer Turner, the Wilson Center's director of China Environment Forum, will moderate.

Hilton said of the "Soil Pollution in China" series: "This project has been a very important collaboration for chinadialogue: working with excellent partners at Yale and Pulitzer enabled us to give a young Chinese journalist the opportunity to report on one of China's most important, intractable and under-covered environmental stories. He Guangwei's series is a ground-breaking insight into the toxic legacy of China's industrial revolution."

Thursday, September 18
9:00 - 10:30 am
6th Floor Auditorium Room
Wilson Center
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania, Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

RSVP
Email [email protected] for more information on the event.