Criminal punishment lacking in pollution cases
By Li Qian |
May 11, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NEITHER companies nor individuals have ever been criminally punished for violations resulting in underground water pollution, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced yesterday.
Ministry inspectors said fines were the harshest punishment handed out.
During a 40-day inspection, authorities checked 25,875 companies that discharge waste water, ordering 424 to make corrections while fining 88 others for a combined 6.13 million yuan (US$999,803), the ministry said.
Fifty-five companies were found discharging and storing waste water via dry wells, seepage pits and ditches, violating rules as they lacked leak-proof measures, it said.
The campaign was carried out in Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces, where pollution from heavy metals is a problem.
The ministry said the maximum fine for violations was only 500,000 yuan (US$80,000), which they said was not enough to deter companies from illegally discharging waste water, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
"Eighty-eight companies were fined about 6 million yuan, meaning each only paid an average of 70,000 yuan," said Ma Yong, senior official with the All-China Environment Federation.
In April, underground water in Hebei turned red due to soil pollution. It was reported that 800 chickens were found dead after drinking the water. But Deng Lianjun, director of the local environmental protection bureau, insisted the water was safe and claimed "red beans can also dye the water." He was later sacked.
Ministry inspectors said fines were the harshest punishment handed out.
During a 40-day inspection, authorities checked 25,875 companies that discharge waste water, ordering 424 to make corrections while fining 88 others for a combined 6.13 million yuan (US$999,803), the ministry said.
Fifty-five companies were found discharging and storing waste water via dry wells, seepage pits and ditches, violating rules as they lacked leak-proof measures, it said.
The campaign was carried out in Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces, where pollution from heavy metals is a problem.
The ministry said the maximum fine for violations was only 500,000 yuan (US$80,000), which they said was not enough to deter companies from illegally discharging waste water, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
"Eighty-eight companies were fined about 6 million yuan, meaning each only paid an average of 70,000 yuan," said Ma Yong, senior official with the All-China Environment Federation.
In April, underground water in Hebei turned red due to soil pollution. It was reported that 800 chickens were found dead after drinking the water. But Deng Lianjun, director of the local environmental protection bureau, insisted the water was safe and claimed "red beans can also dye the water." He was later sacked.
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