A landfill in Huaibei, a prefecture-level city in northern Anhui Province  [CFP]

'Cancer village'

The garbage dump not only pollutes the air and invites fire disasters, but also creates panic over health dangers in the village.

Half of the interviewees in the village claimed they have sore throats and their noses are always itching.

Among 427 villagers, 11 were diagnosed with cancer over the past six years. Six cancer patients have died.

The cancer rate in Yuanfeng county is three times higher than the national average of 0.2 percent each year in China, said Wang Qian, director of Hepatology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Zhongshan University.

In August 2009, the newspaper published a list of cancer patients in Yuanfeng and dubbed it, "Cancer Village."

The head of the village, Deng Zhihong, moved from his house several years ago.

'Going green'

There are various methods of waste disposal, such as sorting mixed rubbish, landfill reclamation, recycling, compost treatment, incineration of municipal refuse and chemical treatment.

"It seems that the compost work began in 2007, because the garbage field cannot be incinerated at all and the only way out is to bury it," Ren Liping told the Global Times.

However, a journalist for the China Economic Times said there are no signs of dirt covering the cross-section of the hill and no trucks have been seen delivering topsoil to the dump.

When asked why the organic waste isn't being buried, Zhong Quanzhou, vice-director of the Utilities Service Center in Humen, said,"We don't cover the garbage with dirt unless it's needed."

A vice-director of the Dalingshan Forest of Humen, surnamed Han, has witnessed the expansion of the dump over the past 15 years.