Two Jiangsu province chemical plants linked to an increase in cancer in local residents are resisting calls to relocate or curb their pollution output.

Hou Yizhong, 59, from the Yizheng Environment Protection Bureau (EPB), has fought for several years to have the Yangzhou Chemical Industry Park in Yizheng city relocated.

He said the municipal government was ignoring calls for proper action to be taken against the park and was "sacrificing people's health" for economic progress.

"Yizheng is on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which serves as the source of drinking water for those on the lower reaches. The potential hazards are obvious," Hou said.

The park opened in 2003 and contains two chemical plants belonging to Youth Chemical and Ruixing Chemical, two subsidiary companies of pesticide manufacturer Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Group.

EPB data showed Youth Chemical was fined repeatedly for releasing poisonous toxins into the river between 2007-08.

Meanwhile, the Yizheng People's Hospital and the Yihua Company Hospital said that there was a 64-percent increase in the number of patients with malignant tumors in 2006-08 compared with the three previous years.

There was also a 39-percent increase in the number of patients with respiratory illnesses.

A Youth Chemical spokesman, who would not be named, said the company had spent a lot of money upgrading its waste water and gas treatment facilities to bring them in line with national standards.

Zhang Baojun, assistant director of the chemical park's administrative committee, said the park had a problem with pollution when it opened.

However the park had changed its practices after receiving complaints from residents, he said.

"Waste water treatment has met the general requirements except that the phosphorous content is still relatively high," Zhang said.

"Waste gas is much more difficult to control because not all valves can be 100 percent airtight.

"We are asking companies to gradually replace them with better ones."

The Ministry of Environment Protection issued a statement on April 8 that said waste water discharged from the park "basically meets national standards except in the content of phosphorous."

Hou, who recently resigned as Party secretary to take up another position at the bureau, said he had written 34 letters requesting the municipal government relocate the park since 2003.

The most recent letter was sent to several government departments and was signed by more than 200 people. It asked that the chemical park be relocated or made to curb its pollution.

Hou said he was frustrated in his former role at the EPB because the strongest penalty he could give the company was a fine.

"It doesn't help because after paying the money the companies just continue with the pollution," he said.

Hou said the park was under the direct administration of Yangzhou's municipal government, which was more senior than the EPB.

He suggested that the reason why the park had not been closed was because it contributed a lot of local tax revenue.

"The government really has to find a proper balance between environmental protection and economic development and sacrificing people's health is not the right way," he said.

Pollution affects residents

Meanwhile, residents in nearby Nongge village say they do not open their windows because of the pungent odor caused by the chemical plant.

Local man Zhang Rongqing said residents had been forced to live with polluted water for six years.

"We have not been able to use water from the well to wash our clothes since 2003 because it is polluted water and people get rashes from it," he was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency.

In his fight to have the park relocated, Hou said he had requested action from many government bodies but their reactions were "insufficient" and pollution "continues."

He said that pollution had caused residents to move away from the area and that property prices had fallen significantly.

"Fewer people want to buy apartments here," he said.

Hou questioned why the municipal government would allow chemical plants to be constructed near the center of Yizheng.

He said that the park had been expanded 12 times above its approved size since it opened in 2003.

Zhang Baojun from the administrative committee of the chemical park, said: "The site was carefully chosen because it is ideal for the development of the chemical industry."

The location on the Yangtze River and local infrastructure like oil pipelines were considered favorable for development, he said.

Bao Zhigao, director of the project development department of Yangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, said the government was re-evaluating the layout of the park to minimize its environmental impact.

(China Daily May 27, 2009)