China's environment watchdog plans to resume assessments on a batch of new projects in some pollution-hit areas after its two-month crackdown on environmental violations proved effective, a senior environmental official said on Monday.

 

Since early July, the Environmental Protection Administration has suspended assessments on new projects in six cities, two counties and five industrial parks along the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Yangtze River as the water was found to be heavily polluted, said Pan Yue, vice director of the administration.

 

"Suspension of the assessments shows the country's determination to adjust industry structure in these areas," Pan said.

 

The administration had "cleared up" 1,162 illegal companies and projects by Aug. 17, among which 400 were shut down, 249 were suspended from production and 102 were ordered to treat pollution before a deadline, Pan said.

 

The companies paid a total of 725 million yuan (US$96 million) as pollution discharge fees and 7.87 million yuan in fines, Pan said.

 

The administration also scrapped 112 illegal policies issued by local governments to promote industrial restructuring in pollution-hit areas, Pan said.

 

"Some local policies violated the environmental protection regulations, so it's a key target to scrap such policies," Pan said.

 

China faces a mounting crisis in providing clean water. Massive blue-green algae growths were reported on Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake in east China and in Dianchi Lake in southwest China in May and June endangering the supply of local tap water.

 

(Shanghai Daily September 4, 2007)