A 15-year-old Chinese teen receives cancer treatment at a local hospital.
His hair is gone from four sessions of chemotherapy.
His relatives and other villagers from an industrial park in the outskirts of the southwestern Chinese city of Quijing blame a chemical company that used a nearby river to dump waste containing a known carcinogen, chromium-6.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 41-YEAR-OLD VILLAGER, WU SHULIANG, SAYING:
"In the past, we did not know anything about it. When he was sick, we didn't know what it was. When we asked the doctors, they also said it is hard to say how it happened. Our plot of farmland was just next to the chromium slag. They (the factory) even dug a drain next to our land for the runoff."
The government has since shut down the company's operations but residents say they are still struggling to cope in the aftermath of the pollution of their land and water.
Environmentalists intend to file a public interest lawsuit to seek damages for the affected villagers.
Greenpeace campaigners anticipate a legal battle that could set an example for similar cases in the future.
"This is the first time a civil environmental protection organization can be recognized as the accuser in a public service case. This means that in the future if similar cases occur, environmental protection organizations or civil organizations can represent 'the nature', that is to say, represent those bodies with no voices or means to be acknowledged or seek for justice under the current judicial system."
The case is expected to go to trial next month.
Jessica Gray, Reuters