At Factory Waste Ponds, Fumes Choke Fantasies

(Beijing) – Deep in the Tengger Desert, near a community of cattle herders about 700 kilometers west of Beijing, pipes from a complex of coal processing and chemical factories once spewed slimy wastewater into six ponds.

The "evaporation ponds" were designed to protect the desert's sensitive environment. By exposing wastewater to dry air and sunlight on the pond's surface, water was supposed to dissipate into the sky, leaving behind salt and toxins for further processing.