China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) sues Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. in Minqin County for illegally building bridges and destroying Shiyanghe National Wetland Park the environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) was formally accepted by the People's Court of Gansu Mining District on January 19. In order to further grasp the relevant situation of the case, recently, the People's Court of Gansu Mining District organized an investigation on the scene.
Ma Yong, deputy Secretary-General of CBCGDF, said that in November 2019, CBCGDF received reports from volunteers that, in the upstream of Hongyashan Reservoir in Minqin County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province, the channel of Shiyang River entered the downstream of the reservoir junction, about 1.8 kilometers east of Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. in Minqin County, a bridge about 260 meters long has been built and put into use.
It is understood that this 260-meter long bridge was built by Minqin Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. as a special production and transportation line for the enterprise. CBCGDF applied for the disclosure of government information to the Minqin County Government Affairs Disclosure Center, and received a reply from the Minqin Branch of the Wuwei City Eco-Environment Bureau, saying that the project has not fulfilled the environmental impact assessment and approval procedures. The Development and Reform Bureau of Minqin County replied that "Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. of Minqin County is mainly engaged in manufacturing, mining, production and sales of chemical raw materials, and foreign investment", "Minqin Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. is building a new dry process cement clinker production line project with an annual output of 2 million tons and a calcium carbide production line project with an annual output of 600,000 tons in Hongyashan, Minqin County. In order to facilitate the transportation of production materials and products of the project, it is necessary to build a bridge project of Hongyashan Reservoir on the south side of Hongyashan Reservoir. "
The bridge has not been approved by the government department, especially without the approval of environmental impact assessment (EIA), soil and water conservation plan approval, or construction permit, etc., directly based on the original construction drawing of the 7.827-kilometer long bridge project designing documents, and built the "Bridge" with a length of more than 200 meters in the Shiyanghe National Wetland Park by Minqin Rongda Mining Co., Ltd.
What impact does a bridge have on the environment? Downstream of the bridge is the Hongyashan Reservoir, known as the “Asia ’s Largest Desert Reservoir,” with extremely important ecological functions. It is the only water conservancy project in Minqin County, which irrigates more than 600,000 mu of cultivated land, supports the survival and development of Minqin oasis and is the lifeblood of the people of Shaxiang. At the same time, the reservoir is surrounded by the national first-class protected animals such as white-tailed sea eagle, Chinese autumn sand duck, national second-class protected animals such as whooper swan, spoonbill, grey crane and other birds to habitat.
Ma Yong said that the defendant, Minqin County Rongda Mining Co., Ltd., in the absence of environmental impact assessment, illegally built a bridge as a special passage for its production and transportation. The completion and operation of the bridge will cause disturbing and other adverse effects on migratory birds inhabiting the surrounding areas, leading to the destruction of the migratory birds' habitats here. Excavation of the river channel during the construction of the bridge will damage the embankment of the riverbed and the slope protection of the bridge abutment. Because the vegetation coverage in this area is generally low, the hydrophysical conditions of the underlying surface are poor, which can easily cause soil erosion. At the same time, the bridge was built to compress the cross section of the original riverbed, which had a serious impact on the flood control and flooding of Hongya Mountain. When the defendant uses the bridge to transport, chemical raw materials such as calcium carbide will be scattered or leaked, or in the event of an accident, it will cause significant pollution to the water body of Hongyashan Reservoir and will seriously damage the public interest.
Article 19 of the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that "new construction projects and other water-based facilities shall be subject to environmental impact assessment in accordance with law." Article 58 stipulates, “The irrigation water for farmland shall meet the corresponding water quality standards to prevent pollution of soil, groundwater and agricultural products.” According to the above legal provisions, the defendant is obliged to eliminate the direct threats and major risks posed to the ecological environment due to the construction of their project.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)
Original Chinese article:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GSXhloUYbY6JeERg72zGjA
By / Maggie, Jin Zhihao