Scott Pelley, "60 Minutes" Crew Attacked In China While Reporting On E-Waste

CBS News' Scott Pelley and his "60 Minutes" crew were attacked in China while working on a story about toxic waste there.

Pelley described the Guiyi region of China as "one of the most toxic places on earth," and he reports that he and his crew were jumped at a dump where they were working on a story about e-waste.

From CBS:

Jumped by a gang of men overseeing the e-waste operations who tried to take the CBS team's cameras, Pelley's crew managed to escape and bring back footage of the hazardous activities. Pelley's investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

The Chinese attackers were trying to protect a lucrative business of mining the e-waste-junked computers, televisions and other old electronic products-for valuable components, including gold. "They're afraid of being found out. This is smuggling. This is illegal," says Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in poor countries that certifies ethical e-waste recyclers in the United States. "A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they're afraid this is all going to dry up."

E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley's team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays. They use caustic chemicals and burn the plastic parts to get at the valuable components, often releasing toxins that they not only inhale, but release into the air, the ground and the water. Potable water must now be trucked into Guiyu and scientists have discovered that the city has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnancies in Guiyu are six times more likely to result in miscarriages, and seven out of 10 children there have too much lead in their blood.

Read more at CBS or watch the attack below:

Watch Pelley discuss the Guiyu region and e-waste:

Comments

[lilpeg]

Here's a chance to create some of those green American jobs that everyone talked about during the campaign. I worry about the soon-to-come inundation of non-digital tvs, vcrs, etc. that will be happening soon. I recycle just about everything in our household that can be and have often wondered about its fate. I probably should look into where our newly-created electronics recycling facility sends the stuff. Probably a good reason for everyone else to do the same.

[NPA]

Corporate America cares only about their bottom line and cheap labor, so what?!

[Wiredwilly]

I didn't see CBS run to defend Amy Goodman. China is starting to look like America.

[AynRand123]

LOL. I"ve seen Fox news reporters attacked by Obama supporters worse than this. The communists are mild compared to those oppressive forces...

[BlackWidowPilot]

That's right, Annie, drink your Rovin kool-aid and pay no attention to the facts of the matter.

BTW, care to discuss your vaunted GOP's actual performance record as the self-appointed "party of conservative Christian family values:"

http://www.armchairsubversive.org

Hypocrisy, thy name remains GOP.

Yeeach.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[truthynesslover]

LOL!!LOSER!!

[johnnyjust]

60 Minutes, pioneers of attack journalism.

I just can't work up enough energy to care what happens to them.

[BlackWidowPilot]

OK, Johnny, I'll bite: can you work up enough energy to care what is happen to the *planet* thanks to such illegal enterprises such as shown by this 60 Minutes crew?

Or is that bad for business?

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[truthynesslover]

I know who cares what corporate america is doing over in china{because we have all those pesky environmental laws!}.I mean if we could only do away with labor and environmental regulations we could be just like them!

[realpolitic]

At some point the cost/benefit analysis between economic development and cleaning up the environment leans to cleaning up the environment. Although, China has seen stellar growth in GDP, like 10% annually, I beieve they have estimated they lose like an additional 8% in GDP growth by the poor health effects resulting from their environmental pollution.

[toocoldout]

Good point. People forget that there are even economic advantages to doing the right thing.

[truthynesslover]

Not if the state does it for you.The only reason our companies have stopped crapping all over the envoronment is because people sued them and there are regulations.

[Deanizen]

Did you ever see West World? If Scott Pelley was exposed to anything toxic it would only require a change of circuit boards. Trust me.

[realpolitic]

Funny! That movie was pretty good!

[neumann]

If it had to happen to someone it might as well happen to this empty suit.

[TheSolitaryOne]

Despite it's recent economic progress, there are many aspects of country (socially/­culturally­/etc.) that are still very much of a past era.

And even with so much progress in the more industrial areas, the vast majority of the people are still extremely poor. This is not surprising given that, contrary to the official propaganda, farmers in China still live under a feudal system. This idea is well laid out in this post: http://www.solitaryone.com/comments-form.php?page=articles/2008/10/20081013

(The Communist government has tried to make changes to their land-use policy in recent months to bring it in line with modern ideas.)

[truthynesslover]

You mean by stealing the land?

[KillTheMessenger]

And this is exactly why I do not "recycle" electronics at this point in time. Until we have environmental regulations which effectively undercut exploitation like this, I just keep my old stuff in the basement.

[LeeCalif]

I've heard that because of the upcoming depression, the U.S. will be forced to import major inferior Chinese products with no recourse. The products are dangerous and the life of the product is minimal.

Hopefully, the Obama administration can enhance and strengthen the agency that used to watch out for us. Bush, you b*stard !!

[victorsays]

The third world, not just China, has been a dump for rich Western country for a long time now. Cambodia, Thailand, they all have the same e-dump.

People in the West act all high mighty and act like they are concernn, but will throw up an outrage if they have pay for it.

This is why people hate liberals. All liberals see is problem and never solution. US stop exporting crap to other country. The US is the main beneficiary in the trade. As rich, the US need to take more responsibility.

The chinese are desperate. There isn't enough land or resourse to feed everyone living like people in the West.

[BlackWidowPilot]

"Liberals" are not the ones as a rule who run the companies that do the dumping. "Liberals" are not the ones who gutted the EPA to make it easier for corporations to dump E-waste on the Third World.

Where have you been these past eight years from Hell under the Busheviks?

BTW, it was "liberals" who raised HELL about the very point you make about the Chinese not having the resources to live like Westerners, *especially* those "liberals" in the environmental movement who were sounding the alarm about China transforming itself into an industrialized consumer society and the catastrophic environmental consequences that would result, and were doing so before NAFTA was a spark in the neo-con corporate eye that conceived such folly.

*Some* people hate "liberals" because they don't get their facts straight, unless of course you're talking about those who are *profiting* from the state of affairs you find so abhorrent.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[research]

That GOP big lie projection machine just never seem to stop does it.

[KillTheMessenger]

That's not even good trolling, Vic. It's just crap.

[realpolitic]

What a rant! You blame liberals for environmental pollution in China. Liberals are the ones looking for solutions to such pollution and not conservatives. Conservatives just want cheap goods. They do not care of it is made by child labor in third world hell holes.

[truthynesslover]

Well keep up the pollution of all you main water sourses and air and youll solve that problem!

[TXfemmom]

Nothing in China is safe, as in none of their products. My son worked there for a major U. S. company constructing a petrochemical and refinery there. He had to constantly fight with the workers themselves to get them to wear their safety gear. The workers would get down from their work and defecate anywhere, rather than to walk to the porta potties located close to their work, and they were pretty clean, as the company saw to it. He would meet with subcontractors and suppliers in respect to improperly performed work or inferior supplies and they would just smile and push money at him to "overlook" the problem. He and all the younger managers would push the money back at them and say they didn't take bribes and they wanted the work and the materials to be as indicated and the Chinese were completely shocked.

[BlackWidowPilot]

No surprises here for me, TXfemmom. I am a Military Historian, and have studied the Far East for over three decades.

This is the traditional Chinese way of doing business and getting things done for hundreds of years; muddle through just enough to collect your pay and pocket a profit, then skip out as fast as you can before things fall apart.

If you can't skip out, have enough bribe money handy to pay off the necessary officials to keep from having to face the music, and always have enough underlings as a shield to keep at bay anyone who comes after you, or to provide a convenient patsy if the people you've gipped won't take bribes or let up (ie., save face by blaming a "careless subordinate" for "this most unfortunate incident!").

Another entangling issue is that of "squeeze:" everybody involved in a project traditionally gets their cut ("squeeze"). Hence the speed with which those officials produced the cash to silence your son; they were just doing what the Chinese have traditionally done for countless generations.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[joebaggadonuts]

I think the Chinese can learn, just like the Republicans are learning here at home. It just takes lots of time and patience.

[realpolitic]

Wwo, I haven't seen a post by you in a long time!

[truthynesslover]

My husband is chinese and he says the chinese dont care about human life.There are too many people and if a few million die it saves the govt. from having to feed them.Sad.

[mjc]

A brief survey of Chinese history, especially in the 20th Century and now, would show that the Chinese policy makers are not concerned about being viewed as some sort of regressive nation. Million of Chinese from every province were sacrificed in order to advance the government's military policy as well as to enhance the power of their political leaders, such as Mau. China was the preserve of many "Western" powers and the colonial experience only taught the next generation of political leaders and generals that power is all that counts no matter the cost. The lives of their people were truly small change. Even if capitalism makes enormous inroads in China, the maxim will be to pursue control of modern resources to the greatest degree.

[JazzPuff]

China is a country, unlike any other and one which I hope President Obama sits down and implores with them the same idea of change, civility and compassion for their people, one that we believe in. But, with their increase to military position and their forever lack of humanity, environment, animal rights I only see it escalating.
I feel like they have a game face on with anger inside, towards any nation for change. I hope we can make them feel that contributing to a better world is not a compromise but a growth in worldly strength and that they will not lose face, but gain a greater soul as a nation themselves..