The Ministry of Environmental Protection is refusing to release data from an investigation into national soil contamination, saying that the inquiry involves state secrets. Dong Zhengwei, a lawyer in Beijing, asked the ministry to release its findings on January 30. He argued that the public needed the information because soil pollution poses a health risk. The government is hiding the results because they show that the pollution is severe, Dong said. The environmental ministry and the Ministry of Land and Resources conducted the investigation between 2006 and 2010.

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