A tailings pond lies on the west of the Chinese city Baotou, one filled with a black grey sludge of toxic and radioactive material.
It is the by-product of rare earth processing – elements vital to solar energy, wind farms and other alternative energy sources. It is open to the air but worse it is seeping into the ground below, poisoning the water.
Sky’s China Correspondent Tom Cheshire was followed when he tried to gather more information.
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