The conflict brought into local focus a much wider problem across China: the chasm of distrust between a government struggling with mounting garbage from homes and industry, and a public that often has little confidence in official promises to cleanly dispose of that trash. The conflict is especially acute in southern China, which is dense with people, industry and expanding cities.

The Boluo government has said the proposed incinerator would be able to burn 700 metric tons of waste a day, generating power while releasing minimal pollution with no dangerous amounts of toxins. But in Boluo, government vows of safe disposal of garbage have been met with disbelief from residents fearful of toxins and sometimes convinced that such plants are corrupt boondoggles.

“Of course, the government would say it’s safe,” said one of the residents who helped write the public appeal. “But if the river here is polluted, then we’ll all be harmed, and there’s also the problem of air pollution from the dioxins.”

The Boluo government said that about a thousand residents protested on Saturday. Online, however, some people claimed the number was at least 10,000. Pictures and video from the scene, published by Chinese news websites, suggested that a few thousand took to the streets of the county seat, Luoyang. One of the residents contacted by phone said a crowd of about the same size marched on Sunday, but two other residents said it appeared to be smaller.

Pictures of the protest on Saturday showed residents, young and old, holding up banners, including one that declared, “Oppose the garbage incineration site as unsuitable. People of Boluo unite and defend our home.” Other pictures showed rows of police officers with shields and helmets guarding the county government offices, and children holding up pieces of paper with the word “resist.”