Hebei province shuts down 200 polluting companies

Monthlong inspection motivated govts to improve supervision, control, report says

Hebei province has shut down 200 polluting companies and punished 366 people in response to serious problems exposed in an environmental inspection in January.

The punishments came as the province gave priority to 2,856 cases involving environmental pollution that had been transferred from the central government's inspection team.

The province said it will clear up another 13,784 illegal projects this year.

According to a report released on Thursday by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the monthlong inspection pushed forward the pollution restrictions, motivating governments to improve their controls and supervision.

The strengthened controls have worked, as in the first three months of the year residents have seen a clear improvement in air quality, the province said.

In a previous report released on Tuesday, the inspection team pointed out problems in the campaign against pollution, from insufficient attention from former provincial leaders to loose supervision, and from many illegal projects in protection zones to deterioration of water and soil quality in some cities.

The problems will be dealt with quickly and thoroughly, the province said.

For example, the inspection team received calls that three lime processing plants in Dachang county, Langfang were severely contaminating the air. However, information about the people who complained was leaked and they claimed they received threats from the business owners.

The provincial environmental protection and public security bureaus have launched an investigation and shut down the three plants.

In addition, nine government officials, including Chen Lijun, the county's deputy head of the environmental watchdog, have been punished, and Wang Tiejun, head of the county's environmental inspection team who leaked the information, has been expelled.

In Tuesday's report, the inspectors exposed insufficient controls on major polluting industries, especially iron and steel, in the province.

In response, Hebei plans to thoroughly research the iron and steel industry. It will combat the illegal or excessive discharge of pollutants and will phase out more plants.

Hebei is the first province inspected by the central government.

The inspection team is expected to examine other provinces' performance in curbing pollution within two years.