Six petrochemical companies in east China's Jiangsu Province are under orders to improve
waste treatment and reduce pollution in the Yangtze and other
rivers.
The companies, including the Yangtze Petrochemical Company and
Jinling Petrochemical Company, were ordered to address
environmental safety problems by the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA).
SEPA launched a comprehensive national review of chemical and
petrochemical projects near major water areas from February 7.
Environmental protection officials inspected 127 projects and
found 20 large plants with grave environmental safety problems,
including 11 along the Yangtze, China's longest waterway, one on
the Yellow River and two at the Daya Bay, involving the sectors of
oil refining, ethylene and methanol.
SEPA has ordered those in charge to take immediate measures to
address the problems. An additional 1.62 billion yuan (US$157
million) has been allocated for environmental safety facilities at
the 20 projects.
Environmental risks could not be resolved overnight, and only a
long-term effective legal mechanism and supervision by the public
would achieve long-term environmental safety of China's rivers and
water areas, said Pan Yue, deputy director with SEPA.
His words reflect the aspiration of China's environment
protection chiefs and the general public for an effective
supervision mechanism to prevent environmental pollution.
Seventy-six water pollution incidents have been reported since
the toxic chemical spill in northeast China's Songhua River last
November. The only set target the government failed to realize
during the 2001-2005 period was that of environmental protection,
said Premier Wen Jiabao at the annual session of the National
People's Congress (NPC) last month.
Since 2004, SEPA has launched several anti-pollution drives
targeting enterprises operating without permission or discharging
pollutants in violation of national laws.
Early last year, SEPA suspended construction on 30 large
projects with a total investment of 117.9 billion yuan on the
grounds of environmental protection, a move demonstrating the
government's resolve to stop pollution at source and to achieve
sustainable development.
The government proposed a conservationist and
environment-friendly society in its 11th Five-Year Guidelines
(2006-2010).
Following the Songhua River incident, SEPA kicked off a
nationwide inspection on environmental safety and launched trials
in ten provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, to
calculate GDP taking environmental factors into account.
These measures showed that SEPA was working to establish a
long-term supervision mechanism, which is expected to help building
an environment-friendly society, said Wang Rong, a professor with
prestigious Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province.
Meanwhile, the government has raised the penalties for officials
who are in charge of enterprises which pollute heavily.
Last year, 27 officials involved in seven pollution incidents
were prosecuted and convicted. And Xie Zhenhua resigned as SEPA
director due to the Songhua River spill.
(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2006)