Op-Ed Contributors

Debate: Disasters

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-09 07:55

Su Yang

Involve public to rein in enterprises

A series of environmental disasters have been reported in recent months, from Zijin mining group's water contamination in Fujian province and Jidong Cement's pollution case in Hebei province to the Dalian oil spill in Liaoning province and the Nanjing propylene pipe explosion in Jiangsu province. Moreover, the worst floods in a decade swept about 1,000 barrels of toxic chemical compound into the Songhua River in Jilin province recently, forcing local authorities to stop the supply of drinking water temporarily, which, in turn, caused a severe crisis in several cities.

All these environmental disasters, according to media reports, were caused either deliberately or because of neglect by large enterprises. Almost all the enterprises that are, unwittingly or otherwise, responsible for the recent disasters use toxic chemicals, and are guarded by local governments against the environmental protection department.

The 2009 State of China's Environment report says 171 "abrupt environmental accidents", including production safety and traffic accidents, and accidents caused by polluted discharge by enterprises were recorded in one year.

Production safety accidents usually lead to large-scale environmental pollution, such as the Dalian oil spill and the 2005 Jilin chemical plant blasts that severely polluted the Dalian Bay and the Songhua River.

We should be particularly alert against two sources of potential danger. The first are the large factories in residential areas or close to water sources. Because of chemical or highly polluting enterprises' proximity to residential areas or water sources, neither the authorities nor the people get enough time or space to deal with unexpected environmental accidents. This means even a relatively minor case of contamination or leak of hazardous chemicals will deal a disproportionately heavy blow to society, just like the Nanjing explosion and Jilin chemical leak did.

The second source of potential danger is continuous pollution by enterprises for lack of proper supervision, as was the case with Jidong in Hebei and Zijin in Fujian. The lack of effective supervision, which enables some enterprises to continue to pollute could cause more serious damage to the environment, including water sources. For example, the Zijin mining group had been discharging pollutants into the Tingjiang River illegally for 10 years because the local authorities had turned a blind eye to its deeds.

To stop enterprises from causing further environmental damage, the government has to readjust the industrial structure and conduct a rational distribution of industry.

Some local governments pay less attention to potential hazards of heavy chemical industries in order to boost economic growth by attracting investments. This results in chemical companies setting up base near residential areas or environmentally sensitive sites.

The plan to restructure and revitalize the petrochemical industries, issued by the State Council, the country's Cabinet, emphasizes "optimization of industrial layout". But large enterprises, as local governments' major source of revenue, act recklessly when it comes to environmental protection.

The Zijin mining group had been discharging untreated water into the Tingjiang River for a long time. Every time someone detected contamination in the river water, the company and the local government acted in tandem to either cover up the case or declare it a minor incident.

This kind of practice is not confined to Zijin. Such enterprises can always furnish excuses, such as maintaining social stability and economic development, to cover up their drawbacks.

In order to boost economic growth, some local governments would rather sacrifice the environment. And it is not possible for local departments and environmental protection agencies to take up cudgels against the higher authorities.

Vertical supervision by environmental protection agencies is not enough to ensure the health of the environment. The environment cannot be protected without public involvement, especially because the country's medium-sized organizations are far from been fully developed and the performance of local governments and officials is still measured in terms of economic growth. That the controversial Xiamen PX (paraxylene) Plant was finally removed showed how necessary (and hence, powerful) public involvement could be in such cases. It was the local people's unflinching stand against the plant that ultimately resulted in its shifting from the site.

The rampant pollution caused by some enterprises, in connivance with the local authorities, recently drew some NGOs that finally ended their illegal activities.

A report tracking the connection between heavy metal poisoning and the information technology industry in China shows that there has been little let-up in poisoning cases in the Pearl River Delta region and some Chinese manufacturers, as supply chains of international brands, are still pumping untreated toxic water into water bodies. The report is helpful for the public to monitor the enterprises' waste-discharging activities.

The promotion of public participation, rational industrial layout and proper planning could help stop the "time bombs" ticking in residential areas and help the country strengthen environmental supervision. And the importance of large enterprises' social responsibility cannot be overemphasized in such cases.

The author is a senior research fellow with the Development Research Center of the State Council.

(China Daily 08/09/2010 page9)