China Jiangsu Province, China publishes information on 10 cases of environmental regulation breaches in 2020

The Department of Ecology and Environment of Jiangsu Province, China on March 18, 2021 published information on 10 notable cases of environmental regulation breaches subject to law enforcement and punishment in 2020. Three of them are outlined below.

12.4m yuan fine imposed on sewage treatment company for exceeding pollutant discharge limit

Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Huai’an, Jiangsu Province reported it found that Xuyi Guolian Sewage Treatment Co., Ltd. (盱眙国联污水处理有限公司) discharged wastewater exceeding a pollutant limit, during an on-site inspection conducted in October 2019. The total nitrogen concentration in the effluent exceeded the limit by 4.63 times. After that, the bureau conducted re-inspections of this company several times by March 2020, and each time confirmed the pollutant level was above the limit. It imposed daily fines on the company for five separate periods, which amounted to 12.4 million yuan (approximately $1,890,000) in all.

440,000 yuan fine imposed for regulation breaches, including discharging illegal air pollutants

When the Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Taizhou, Jiangsu Province conducted on-site inspections of Jiangsu Xinghai Special Steel Co., Ltd. (江苏兴海特钢有限公司) in August and September 2020, it found that the company didn’t use the bag filters in its metal refinery properly, didn’t keep necessary records and hadn’t applied for hazardous ash dust disposal in accordance with the regulation as they were required to. The bureau imposed a fine of 440,000 yuan (approximately $67,000) for above illegal acts and transferred the case to the public security organ. The organ then put a manager at the company under administrative detention.

Members of Xuzhou-based paper manufacturer placed under criminal detention for fabricating data of automated monitoring

The Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province found that Xuzhou Tianyuan Paper Industry Co., Ltd. (徐州天元纸业有限公司) falsified and fabricated environmental monitoring data, during an on-site inspection conducted on July 23, 2020. The paper manufacturer didn’t use its environmental monitoring equipment in accordance with the regulations, reporting other irrelevant data as online monitoring data of wastewater. As this company’s illegal acts potentially amount to environmental pollution crimes, the bureau transferred the case to the public security organ. The organ then placed three members of the company under criminal detention. This case is currently on trial.

The full article (in simplified Chinese) is available at

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/w2rrcMYne0O25EAs6T_xeg

Author / Responsibility

CHEN Yang

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CHEN Yang