Culture department on green hit list
Print Edition
THE State Administration of Cultural Heritage has appeared on a list of “wrong-doers to be punished” released yesterday by Beijing environmental protection authorities.
It is rare in China for a central government department like the SAOCH, a vice-ministry-level unit under the State Council, China’s cabinet, to be criticized publicly.
The administration was among 114 violators discovered by the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau during a week of intensive checks on practices that may harm the capital’s air quality.
The bureau said one SAOCH canteen refused checks on its treatment of kitchen fumes — one of the “unsavory elements” said to contribute to the city’s PM 2.5 particles.
The bureau received reports of the canteen discharging unprocessed fumes and causing excessive noise, and sent an inspection team there on June 4.
A bureau staff member said the inspectors were refused entry and had to wait for more than two hours outside the canteen. Requests to inspect the premises went unanswered.
“We merely wanted to check if the accusation was true and give our suggestions to fix it,” said the staff member, who declined to reveal the exact penalty handed to the administration.
More than 1,300 restaurants, automobile factories, garages and construction sites were checked, and those not meeting standards paid total fines of 2.45 million yuan (US$394,450).
The bureau said violators will be punished for practices such as “not installing or using air quality control facilities,” “making excessive noise” and “leaving coal heaps uncovered.”
Beijing launched a five-month campaign in June in its fight against air pollution.
The campaign is focusing on emissions from industrial chimneys, casting factories, printing houses and chemical, furniture, medicine, industrial coating and automobile plants.
The Beijing government said it will also step up supervision of open-air barbecues and restaurants and construction sites.
According to a 2013 action plan, inhalable particulates will be cut by at least 10 percent in China’s major cities by 2017.
By 2017 in Beijing, PM 2.5 levels should be down 25 percent on 2012 figures.
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