TIANYING, China (Reuters) - In ramshackle semi-industrial Tianying in China's Anhui province, a state-owned lead smelter and foundry sits at the centre of town, behind high walls and secure gates that make it look more like a prison than the mainstay of the local economy.
Decades of pollution from it and similar plants -- Tianying once accounted for half of China's total lead output -- has made much of the town's land uninhabitable and its water undrinkable.