CCTV News | Enterprises cannot Escape the Responsibility of Pollution, CBCGDF Takes Action on the Pollution of Tengger Desert Again
2019/11/25 10:54:00 本站

[Editor’s Note:] Five years later, a large area of environmental pollution reappeared in Tengger Desert, Zhongwei City, Ningxia Autonomous Region. By the noon of November 10th, the local government had dug 52,700 tons of solid waste. Although the original pulp production line of Meili Paper Co., Ltd. was closed in 2015, these pollutants have existed here for 20 years and have not been treated. On November 11th, CCTV reported an interview with the volunteers of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) and the Deputy Secretary-General of CBCGDF on the incident.

 

As early as 2014, a large-scale pollution incident in Tengger Desert attracted much attention. After the courts of Zhongwei city and Ningxia Autonomous Region failed to file a case, the Supreme People’s Court ruled to file a case for trial.

 

For the pollution incident happened again, the CBCGDF has launched corresponding legal actions and will investigate the environmental pollution responsibility of relevant responsible parties according to law.

 

Recently, Tengger Desert has been exposed to a large area of pollutants, with a total area of about 180 mu. At present, the enterprises involved have been put on file for investigation, and the stock price of MCC Meili Cloud Computing, the relevant listed company, fell to a halt today.

 

The polluted area is 16.5km northwest of Zhongwei City, on the edge of Tengger Desert. CCTV-2 reporter contacted the first environmental volunteer who found and reported the pollution scene.

 

Environmental protection volunteers said: it is located on the edge of Tengger Desert, close to Shapotou National Nature Reserve in Zhongwei, not far from the reserve, about a kilometer away from the sign in the core area and about 10 kilometers away from the Yellow River.

 

The environmental protection volunteer arrived at the site in October this year and saw that the pollution discharge site is located in the artificial forest area of the Meili Paper Industry and close to Shapotou National Nature Reserve in Zhongwei.

 

Environmental protection volunteers said that the pollutants were black thick liquid with a strong pungent smell, scattered in the yellow sand under the influence of wind and sand, and had infiltrated.

 

According to the information released on November 10th, through the investigation of the pollution site, 14 pollution sites were found in Meili’s artificial forest area, covering a total area of 120,000 square meters, about 180 mu, and the thickness of the polluted soil was between 20cm and 4m.

 

According to the website of the Zhongwei municipal government, the black slime in the sand is the paper black liquor produced by the former Ningxia Meili Paper Industry Group Co., Ltd. during the period from 1998 to 2004. The company entrusted Ningxia Meili Paper Group Environmental Protection and Energy Conservation Co., Ltd. to deal with the black liquor from papermaking, but this environmental protection company directly dumped part of the black liquor into the nearby forest area.

 

In February 2015, the original pulp production line of the Meili Paper Industry was permanently closed, but these pollutants have existed here for 20 years and have not been treated. By the noon of November 10th, the local government had dug 52,700 tons of solid waste, which will be further disposed of after the identification results are clear.

 

In fact, as early as 2014, a large-scale pollution incident in the Tengger Desert was noticed. The public interest litigation initiated by the environmental protection organization also caused the eight involved enterprises to bear the environmental restoration cost of 569 million yuan. This time, the environmental non-profit organization also plan to conduct environmental public interest litigation against this Tengger Desert pollution incident.

 

On November 9, the working group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment arrived in Zhongwei City, and investigation and verification are currently underway. The results of the investigation will be announced to the public in a timely manner.


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Ma Yong, the Deputy Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF): “We regret to see a new environmental pollution incident. In this process, the main body of the enterprise is certainly not off the responsibility.”


Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4856/10402.html


By / Xue Tongtong