Two criminals convicted of polluting China's 900-year-old Grand
Canal have been sentenced to three years in prison.
Xu Changjun, owner of a cargo ship, and captain Liu Guanhe, were
found guilty by a local court on Wednesday of allowing their ship
to dump 220 tons of sulfuric acid into the waterway nearly a year
ago.
Yuhang People's Court in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's
Zhejiang Province also ordered Xu and Liu to
pay 23,200 yuan (US$3,050) in compensation to two downstream
fishing companies that suffered economic losses from the chemical
spill.
The leakage occurred on August 3, 2006 when the vessel carrying
220 tons of concentrated sulfuric acid ran aground in the Yuhang
section of the canal -- a 10th century waterway linking Beijing
with Hangzhou, about 100 kilometers south of Shanghai.
An investigation showed that Xu's ship had been damaged the
previous month. Xu had the ship repaired but did not send it to the
local authority for a compulsory checkup before putting it back
into operation.
During the voyage, Xu and Liu used liquid soap, glue, and iron
flakes to cover crevices on the ship after it showed signs of
leakage.
They kept sailing along the canal till the ship began to capsize
in the Yuhang section. The two called the police but two thirds of
the ship had sunk, spilling all 220 tons of sulfuric acid into the
water.
Local environmental departments poured 900 tons of liquid alkali
into the waterway to neutralize the acid after the spill. Water was
diverted from the nearby Qiantang River to dilute the contaminated
water. Navigation along the Yuhang section and the upper reaches of
the river was suspended but resumed the next day. The water quality
returned to normal two days later.
(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2007)