China Environmental Law

Here’s some good news on the China environmental front.

The extensive effort to rid the Songhua River of pollution, which includes 24 projects launched out of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, is making great progress, according to sources from Harbin environmental protection bureau.

You probably recall that the Songhua River was made infamous after it became contaminated with benzene following an explosion at the No. 101 Petrochemical Plant (a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)) in Jilin city, Jilin province on November 13, 2005.  Initial press reports noted the explosion and resulting loss of life, but didn’t mention anything about the spill of benzene or the environmental catastrophe it had and would create.

The silence regarding the spill continued for several days until it was necessary to shut off water supplies to the City of Harbin and the magnitude of the spill could no longer be kept secret.  The initial secrecy, the Harbin water shut-off, and the cross-boundary impact of the spill (the Songhua River is a tributary of the Heilong River (Amur), which flows into Russia) created a huge public relations debacle for China.

Heads had to roll and one of those heads belonged to Xie Zhenhua, Minister of the then State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).  SEPA would have had little responsibility after the explosion, and it does not appear to have been instrumental in the cover-up of the environmental consequences of the benzene spill.  Nevertheless, the decisive action to punish those deemed responsible was widely hailed at the time.

Jiang Chengsong, a member of the Environmental and Resources Protection Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, said the quick replacement of the environmental chief after the Songhua River pollution incident also shows the improvement of China’s political system.

“It indicates that the country’s official accountability system has become more mature,” he said.

How mature remains open to debate; 13 months later Xie Zhenhua was named a Vice-Minister at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which was arguably a promotion over his prior position.

Back to the river: The benzene spill prompted the government to institute a Water Pollution Prevention Program on the Songhua River which “was designed to clean the river and tackle pollution in comprehensive ways, over a five-year period.”  A total investment of 13.41 billion yuan is planned, and the the program will fund 224 projects.

The 24 projects in and around the City of Harbin (with a 600 million yuan (US$87.8 million)) have all commenced and “three key regional prevention projects, nine industrial control projects related to enterprises, and 12 sewage treatment plants.”

Proving that clean water is not just good for health, but also good for business, Liu Ruiqiang, general director in charge of constructing the ice and snow world, a winter resort in Harbin is quoted as saying:

“This year’s ice is extremely clean and transparent, like crystal. It must be very nice when they turn into ice sculptures.”

That should warm your heart.