Local Officials' Dereliction of Duty Linked to Environmental Incidents

A senior State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) official said dereliction of duty by local officials in Gansu and Hunan provinces is to blame for two major environmental pollution incidents in August and September, according to a September 15 China Daily article. Pollution from factories resulted in more than 250 children being hospitalized for lead poisoning in Gansu and the shutdown of a drinking water source used by 80,000 people in Hunan, according to news reports. Pan Yue, Deputy Director of SEPA, described both cases as "typical examples of pollution problems caused by a dereliction of duty of local governments and environment bureaus [sic]," according to the China Daily article.

The incidents test whether the Chinese government will enforce a recent commitment to administratively punish local officials for protecting polluters. After a series of pollution incidents and the finding that pollution increased in the first half of 2006, central government officials announced in September that they will "severely" punish local government officials for protecting polluting enterprises. According to the China Daily article, Pan emphasized that "[o]fficials must be held accountable," with those found guilty receiving "harsh administrative punishments."

The incidents also test whether procuratorate officials will abide by a recent law and file criminal cases against local officials who neglect their professional duties, thereby contributing to pollution incidents. The Supreme People's Procuratorate issued Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement Criminal Cases (Provisions), which went into effect on July 26 and clarify previous provisions from 1999 (in Chinese) regarding negligence in environmental supervision and control, a crime under Article 408 of the Criminal Law. Specifically, Section 1, Item 19, of the Provisions calls on local procuratorates to file a criminal prosecution against any official whose negligence causes a major environmental pollution incident, which brings about the following consequences, among others:

• I(19)(2): the "severe poisoning of 30 or more people;" and
• I(19)(7): the "severe pollution of the source of everyday drinking water, surface water, or underground water."

Thus far, authorities have issued administrative punishments for some officials in the Hunan incident and have begun an investigation of officials in Gansu, although the results are not yet known. With regards to the Gansu incident, Pan noted that "[t]he illegal pollutant discharge lasted for more than 10 years. The local government and environmental bureau definitely will not escape responsibility."

Pollution From Plant in Gansu Province Causes Lead Poisoning in Hundreds

Lead pollution from a lead smelting plant in Huixian county, Gansu province, resulted in more than 250 children being hospitalized and scores of children and adults being diagnosed as having excessive levels of lead or lead poisoning, according to a September 28 Xinhua article and a September 6 Associated Press (AP) article (via MSNBC.com). The lead poisoning was first detected when a five-year old boy was brought to a local hospital in April for unrelated reasons, according to the China Daily article. Further medical tests on August 18 led to the mass hospitalization, according to the September 28 Xinhua article and the September 6 AP article. As of October 9, 954 children had been found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood or to be suffering from lead poisoning and 43 adults had been found to be suffering from lead poisoning, according to an October 9 Xinhua article (via China Daily).

The plant responsible for the incident, Huixian County Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Co., Ltd., had failed to undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) after its upgrade in 2003, and its waste disposal equipment had failed to meet national emissions standards since it started production in 1996, according to a September 12 SEPA press release (in Chinese) and the China Daily article. In 2003, the plant released 201 tons of lead into the atmosphere, an amount more than 800 times the national standard, according to the China Daily article.

The Gansu provincial government sent a delegation to investigate possible misconduct on the part of the county government, according to a September 15 China Youth Daily article (in Chinese). So far there have been no reports on the progress of the investigation or whether any officials have been punished. Officials reportedly closed and demolished parts of the plant after the incident, according to the October 9 Xinhua article and an October 11 Wall Street Journal article (subscription required).

Local Officials Punished for Chemical Spill From Factories in Hunan Province

Authorities in the cities of Yueyang and Linxiang in Hunan province discovered a chemical spill on September 8 and cut off a drinking water source used by 80,000 residents for four days in response, according to a September 11 South China Morning Post (SCMP) article (subscription required) and a SEPA press release (in Chinese) from the same day. No injuries were reported, according to the September 11 SCMP article.

The two factories responsible for the spill, Haoyuan Chemical Company, Ltd. and Taolin Lead-Zinc Ore Chemical Plant, had been discharging waste water into the Xinqiang River that contained arsenide levels 10 times above the national standard for a year, according to the September 11 SEPA press release and the China Daily article. Officials allowed the factories to operate despite not passing any EIAs and despite not having any pollution-control facilities, according to an October 4 SCMP article (subscription required). In the case of the Haoyuan facility, the Linxiang municipal government designated it as a "key protected firm" and even helped it obtain a waste discharge license, according to an October 3 Xinhua article (in Chinese).

The Yueyang municipal Party committee and the Yueyang municipal government removed Chen Lin from his post as Director of Linxiang city's Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) and found that Feng Haibo, Deputy Director of Linxiang's EPB had committed a "serious administrative offense," for their failure to adequately supervise the Haoyuan facility and for overstepping their authority in approving the waste discharge license, according to the October 3 Xinhua article. The Yueyang municipal Party committee and government also issued administrative warnings to five other municipal officials, including the acting Linxiang mayor, deputy mayor, and local Community Party secretary, for not adequately supervising the factory and giving it protected status, according to the October 3 Xinhua article. The same article reports that the municipal Party committee and government based their decision on the Regulations of the CPC on Disciplinary Punishments (in Chinese) and the Provisional Regulation on Disciplining Dereliction of Duty in Environmental Protection Activity (in Chinese). The article did not say whether procuratorate officials intend to pursue criminal prosecution of the officials involved, as mandated by the Provisions.

For a related report, see an earlier CECC analysis on a factory that caused lead poisoning in children in October 2005. See Section V(f), on "The Environment," in the CECC's 2006 Annual Report for more information on the Chinese government's response to environmental degradation.