The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the
Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) and the State Administration
of Work Safety (SAWS) sent out four joint inspection teams on
Thursday as part of a drive to shut down unsafe mines and clean up
polluters.
The inspection tour, which will continue for 40 days, will cover
eight provinces. North China's Shanxi
Province, home to numerous coal mines, is on the list.
This inspection follows a nationwide campaign conducted last
May.
At that time, the three central government bodies ordered local
environment, land and resources, and work safety authorities across
the country to end illegal operations in regions where mining is
prohibited. They also said that they would take mining companies to
task for pollution.
The ongoing inspection is being conducted to improve the work of
local authorities and study the current environmental situation in
areas around mines. Discussions will be held with local governments
on solving such problems as restoring the environment at abandoned
mines, said Jing Dongxia, of SEPA's Environment Inspection
Bureau.
In recent years, environmental damage and pollution caused by
mining have become increasingly serious and the people living in
mining areas have been greatly affected.
The situation is worse where mining companies are privately
owned or run by townships, many of which pay little attention to
environmental protection, according to Jing.
For example, many small mining companies at the Dabaoshan metal
mines in Shaoguan, Guangdong
Province, discharge untreated wastewater. Water there is so
polluted that the incidence of cancer is very high, she said.
"It is hard to phase out those small companies, which just stop
production when inspection teams come and resume operations after
they go," Jing said.
She indicated that one way to end such operations is for land
and resources authorities to refrain from granting mining
certificates to polluting companies.
"Departments involved should strengthen their coordination in
this regard," she said.
(China Daily September 3, 2004)