China's environmental watchdog has halted production or further
construction of five factories and three road projects that harmed
the environment.
"All of them failed to provide proper environmental protection
facilities when the projects were being built but went into
operation anyway, which is against China's law and regulations," an
official with the State Environmental Protection Administration
(SEPA) said on Thursday.
"If these projects do not upgrade their environmental prevention
facilities within a fixed time limit, stricter punishment will be
inflicted," the official added.
The eight projects were spotted by the SEPA in an initial
checkup of pollution prevention facilities in 2,453 projects built
during 2001 and 2005.
The official said the checkup will be made public when it is
completed at the end of this year, implying that more polluting
projects could be shut down.
The five factories that have been shut down produced coke,
electricity and heat and chemicals in the provinces of Shanxi,
Shandong, Sichuan and Hebei. Three road building projects in
Shanghai, Zhejiang and Hebei were criticized for causing noise
pollution, according to the SEPA.
Two coke ovens of Shanxi Luliang coking plant in central China's
Shanxi Province were put into operation several years ago without
waste water treatment equipment. The waste from the plant was being
discharged into a tributary of the Yellow River.
The construction of the two coke ovens was completed before an
environmental impact assessment had been completed, according to
the SEPA.
Some regions have in recent years blindly launched
energy-intensive, heavily polluting projects, the SEPA said in a
statement.
The SEPA attributed the phenomenon to local governments' focus
on economic development, in disregard of the environment, as well
as a lack of supervision.
(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2006)