Counties in Yellow River Basin told to rectify environmental violations

Two counties in the Yellow River Basin have been told to rectify violations that jeopardize the waterway's environment as inspectors continue their one-month mission to four provincial regions.

High-profile central environmental inspection teams arrived in Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Shaanxi provinces early this month. Environmental violations reported in Luoping county, Ningxia, and Hancheng county, Shaanxi, were among eight such cases discovered by inspectors.

Many companies based in Fine Chemical Industrial Park in Luoping, an area with a water shortage, took water illegally from the Yellow River for an extended period of time. In addition, a large amount of waste water from the park was not adequately disposed of, according to a media release from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Of the 81 companies based at the park, which is only 5 kilometers from river, only one had a water consumption permit. The park's water supplier took more than 21 million cubic meters of water from the river without official approval since May 2017, the release said.

During an inspection in 2018, inspectors found that waste water from the park was not properly dealt with before being discharged, the release added. Despite the introduction of a new sewage disposal plant in 2019, it had operated abnormally and work there was stopped in late March.

Although local authorities ordered companies to transport their waste water to a plant 50 km away for disposal, some companies continued to illegally discharge sewage. From February to June, the park's managing authority even used more than 70 million cubic meters of sewage to control dust at a landfill.

Inspectors failed to ascertain the location of a large amount of undisposed sewage. From January to November, the park consumed 5.95 million metric tons of water, while 310,000 tons of sewage was disposed of during this time.

"The Luoping government has failed to bring the park under effective regulation," the release stated.

According to a separate release, nearly 1.3 million cu m of solid waste was disposed of illegally in some 25 hectares of the Yellow River in Hancheng for years.

From 2013 to 2018, central government bodies issued 10 documents demanding that mining and construction waste be removed. However, the problem has yet to be addressed, the release said.

Piles of waste "with complex components" have hindered nearby wetlands in playing their role in the local ecosystem. The waste also poses significant environmental hazards to the Yellow River, according to the release.

Having failed to get a firm grasp of the nature of China's new development principles, the Hancheng government "breached its duties "and the problem was prolonged, the release added.