For failing to meet environment impact assessment (EIA) targets
eight construction projects have been blacklisted by China's
environmental watchdog.
The move came as the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA) wrapped up its first round of investigations
into the EIAs of 2,453 projects approved to go-ahead during the
10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05).
Luliang Coking Plant in North China's Shanxi Province, the worst offender, built
coking ovens in 2003 and 2004 with a total annual production
capacity of 600,000 tons.
The inspection found the plant hadn't undertaken an EIA. It
also failed to build the required treatment facilities for
wastewater that was being discharged into a local river
running into the Yellow River.
The plant hadn't built the required coal gas purification system
and ground dust removal station. Two other newly built ovens which
went through EIA testing failed.
The coking plant has been ordered to suspend operations. It'll
be given limited time to bring operations up to standard and if not
it'll face further punishment, SEPA said.
Another infamous project on the blacklist is the first and
second phases of Shanghai's outer ring road. The project was
criticized in 2004 by SEPA for failing to build sound-proofing on
the first phase. The problem hasn't been solved and the second
phase, completed in 2003, also lacked effective noise control.
"High energy consumption and seriously polluting projects have
been launched blindly by local governments in recent years," said
the SEPA spokesman. "The main reason is that local governments
pursue fast economic growth but neglect the price of environmental
destruction. They did not support the EIA."
SEPA said the full inspection results would be made public by
the end of this year.
The other six blacklisted enterprises are: Zhanhua Power Plant
and Shandong Haihua Co Ltd in East China's Shandong Province; Jiangyou Power Plant in
Southwest China's Sichuan Province; Tangshan Power Plant in
North China's Hebei Province; a section of the Yongjin
Highway in East China's Zhejiang Province and part of the highway from
Qingdao in Shandong Province to Yinchuan in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
(China Daily October 13, 2006)