Liuzhou Laundry Plant discharges production wastewater directly into the Liu River
Release Time:
2013-05-27 10:24
Source:
Xinhua News Agency
The sewage discharged by enterprises in Jilong Village, Liunan District, Liuzhou City, Guangxi directly enters the Liu River. Xinhua News Agency photographer Lu Bo'an
On May 20, a reporter saw in Jilong Village, Liunan District, Liuzhou City, Guangxi, that the village is densely populated with various small production enterprises such as papermaking, smelting, and washing. "These factories have brought considerable income to the village, and villagers receive a certain amount of dividends every year," a villager surnamed Wen told the reporter.
Inside a factory named "Liuzhou Fuhao Cleaning Service Co., Ltd.", the reporter saw piles of white sheets stacked on the ground, with seven large washing machines running nearby. A drainage ditch at the back of the factory area discharges washing wastewater directly into a dark pipe.
Led by an informed person, the reporter found the sewage outlet located at the corner of Jilong Village. Covered by several large trees and patches of wild grass, this sewage outlet is hard to detect. A few meters away from the outlet, a pungent smell could already be smelled. Sewage with light white foam flows out from the outlet, passing through a natural runoff ditch, directly into the Liu River.
After receiving the report, the Environmental Protection Bureau of Liunan District, Liuzhou City recently conducted an on-site inspection. Wu Ling, head of the inspection team of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Liunan District, Liuzhou City, said that the inspection found that the sewage was discharged into a section of the secondary water source protection area of Liuzhou City, not far from the water intake of the Hexi Water Plant downstream.
On May 21, the reporter returned to the sewage outlet in Jilong Village and found that sewage was still flowing from the sewage pipe, but the flow was much smaller than the previous day. "There are quite a few enterprises in the village, and we have organized law enforcement personnel to intensify the investigation," said Wu Ling.
Enterprises directly discharge production sewage into the river, but the environmental protection department identified the discharge as a "municipal sewage pipe" that actually does not exist, and allowed some illegal sewage enterprises in Liunan District, Liuzhou City, Guangxi to pass environmental approval. Why does a fictitious "municipal sewage pipe" repeatedly appear in environmental approval documents? Why do the three regulatory procedures required for environmental approval become an "empty promise"?
Current Situation
The sewage from the washing factory has a pungent odor
Direct discharge into secondary water source protection area
Response
Environmental Protection Bureau claims no on-site inspection
Believes sewage pipe exists
Where exactly is the "municipal sewage pipe" that repeatedly appears in environmental approval documents? Several villagers of Jilong Village said they have never heard of it. The reporter searched along the runoff ditch of the sewage outlet but found no trace. The reporter confirmed with the Liunan District Environmental Protection Department, which confirmed that this "municipal sewage pipe" does not exist.
Why does a fictitious "municipal sewage pipe" repeatedly appear in documents? Lv Bin said that according to the normal approval procedure, the environmental protection department should conduct on-site verification of the reports submitted by enterprises and only approve after confirming full compliance with environmental requirements. "We did not verify on-site and believed in the existence of the 'municipal sewage pipe' based on the monitoring agency's report. Our work had omissions." "In the subsequent approval process for enterprises in this area, it was always assumed that the 'municipal sewage pipe' existed, and no verification was conducted."
The distance from Jilong Village to the Liunan District Environmental Protection Bureau is less than 4 kilometers. People can't help but ask: as a regulatory department, why was there not a single on-site inspection for such a long time? Was it a work omission or deliberate ignorance?
Investigation
Approval required before production
Washing factory is an illegal sewage discharger
"An enterprise must pass environmental approval before formal production; otherwise, it is considered illegal production," said Lv Bin, director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Liunan District, Liuzhou City. Enterprises must go through three steps to pass environmental approval: first, an accredited environmental assessment agency conducts an evaluation; the environmental protection department conducts a preliminary review and agrees to trial production; then a professional environmental monitoring agency monitors the trial production and submits a report; finally, the environmental protection department reviews and approves the enterprise for formal production. At the Liunan District Environmental Protection Bureau, the reporter saw the "Environmental Impact Report Review Form for Construction Projects" of Fuhao Cleaning Service Co., Ltd. On this document approved by the environmental protection department, the reporter saw the requirement that "residues and wastewater containing cleaning solvents generated during washing cannot be discharged directly and must be treated by sedimentation tanks before being discharged into the municipal sewage pipe network."
"According to national standards, enterprise production sewage must meet first-class standards to be discharged directly into rivers and meet third-class standards to be discharged into municipal pipe networks," said Wu Ling. From the inspection, the production sewage of several washing factories in Jilong Village cannot meet first-class standards and can only be discharged into the municipal sewage pipe network.
Doubts
Environmental assessment agencies affiliated with environmental protection departments
Environmental assessment approval is a formality
The reporter contacted an environmental assessment agency in Liuzhou City under the pretext of "wanting to open a laundry factory." The man who answered the phone said that if you want to pass environmental approval, you only need a 10,000 yuan handling fee, and the agency can handle the environmental assessment report, acceptance monitoring form, and environmental protection department approval form.
"Guaranteed 100% pass, payment can be made after passing environmental approval," the man said. "We have been in this industry for many years and have never failed to complete the process successfully. You only need to provide relevant materials and then wait for good news!"
When the reporter said that the factory land had not obtained industrial land permission and many procedures had not been completed, the environmental assessment agent said that incomplete procedures do not matter, only the handling fee would be higher, but they guarantee passing environmental approval. "We have very good connections. If you don't believe it, you can come with us to the environmental protection department."
Industry insiders point out that generally, before starting a business, companies will first communicate with the environmental protection department. Only if the environmental protection department agrees to the construction will the company seek an environmental impact assessment agency. Nowadays, many environmental impact assessment agencies are affiliated with the environmental protection department or have intricate connections with it.
"The country has strict regulations and a series of supervisory requirements for environmental protection approvals," said Zhang Hui, a professor at the Party School of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee. However, in some places, due to the pursuit of GDP, the environmental impact assessment approval process is sometimes just a formality. According to Xinhua News Agency
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