*CHINA ENVIRONMENT BRIEF **(A News Summary from China Green News<http://eng.greensos.cn/> ) Friday May 7, 2010
In Today’s Brief* ~Villagers Protest Industrial Emissions in Jiangsu ~Wen Jiabao Calls For Greater Energy Efficiency ~Sichuan Ties City Water Quality to Financial Penalties ~Next Five-Year Plan May Tackle Nitrogen Levels ~Large Frozen Water Reserves in Qinghai ~English Stories from the Chinese Press* Outside the Industrial Park Gates Sat the Two Hundred* The banner tied to two trees outside the chemical industrial park declared, “People Breathing Poison in Gudu Village Want to Survive”. Another one pleaded, “Think of the Needs of Our Children”. After seven years of deteriorating health and barren fields due to unrelenting chemical pollution, villagers living around the Choumiao Jingxi Chemical Industry Park had had enough. So on April 23, a number of them gathered at the three park entrances, sat down on the road, and waited. Five days later, it appeared their demands might finally be met. These villagers’ search for environmental justice, detailed in an excellent article <http://society.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-05/804451.html> in the *Modern Express*, is a story told many times throughout China, but with a happier ending than most. Since 2003, residents of several villages near the city of Liyang in Jiangsu Province had tried unsuccessfully to get 17 chemical factories and the local government to address the toxic gases and wastewater emitting from the industrial park. In addition to the foul smells that kept people awake at night, villagers complained of health and economic damage. One 40 year-old villager complained to the reporter of dizziness, chest pain, and vomiting. Others talked about destroyed aquaculture ponds and barren fields because of sewage dumped directly into the river feeding the villages. According to the article, villagers first protested at the industrial park in 2007. While this initially resulted in 10 protestors, including an 85 year-old man, being detained for a week by police, shortly thereafter the provincial Environmental Protection Department ordered the town government to relocate the villagers around the factories and step up environmental monitoring. Villagers allege that the town government solicited signatures for a document announcing the relocation, but never tried to carry out the move. Town government officials say this was due to disagreements with some villagers who didn’t want to be moved or didn’t like the proposed relocation site. The factories also offered each villager 350 RMB in compensation, a meager sum in the villagers’ eyes. The pollution apparently continued unabated, leading up to the events of April 23. After villagers demanded compensation and relocation and then set up two big tents across the entrances to the industrial park, city government officials held an emergency meeting, where they decided to order the chemical plants closed and begin mediating between the villagers and factories. Four days later on the 27th, some factories remained open, and the number of protesters reached 200. By the next day, their efforts had apparently paid off. On April 28th, all of the factories halted production. Township government announced an agreement to provide 500,000 RMB in compensation to the 4,500 villagers, pay their medical bills, and help them sue the polluting industries. They also announced the construction of water treatment facilities in the industrial park, as well as the installation of air purifiers. At present, the story appears to be one of a growing number of examples of successful petitions for environmental justice. What makes it more remarkable is its more rural setting, unlike the Xiamen plant protest<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6368712.html>or the Shanghai maglev protest<http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/local-news/shanghai/2008/01/13/138821/Hundreds-protest.htm>, which were fueled by upset middle class urbanites. For China Daily’s other English version of events, click here<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/07/content_9819470.htm> . *Grandpa Wen to Knockout Wasteful Industry* He may be pushing 70, but be wary of Premier Wen Jiabao’s right jab. In a televised meeting on national energy conservation strategy, Wen declared that the government must use an “iron fist”<http://env.people.com.cn/GB/11528736.html>[People’s Daily] to eliminate outdated, wasteful production in order to meet China’s goal of reducing energy consumption per unit GDP by 20% between 2006 and 2010. Energy efficiency improved less than 15% over the first four years, leaving a formidable task for China these next 8 months. The central government has already allocated 50 billion RMB for improving energy efficiency and conservation, and to support 10 major energy saving projects. For the details of Wen’s outline for national energy conservation, here’s the rough Google translation<http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fenv.people.com.cn%2FGB%2F11528736.html&sl=zh-CN&tl=en> . Also, Xinhua has served up a rousing editorial on the subject, which can be viewed here<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-05/07/c_13281612.htm> . *Sichuan Cities to Take Water Pollution Down to Zero (Or Pay A Fee)* The *Chengdu Daily* reported Thursday that new regulations by Sichuan Province’s Environmental Protection Department will fine cities<http://news.h2o-china.com/html/2010/05/671273113202_1.shtml>based on the degree to which their waterways exceed water quality standards. 69 cities along five major rivers or their tributaries will be subject to regular water quality monitoring. If their river section’s water quality exceeds standards by one level (on a six level scale, with Class III being the minimum requirement), the city will be fined 200,000 RMB. Two levels and the fine goes to 400,000 RMB. And for three grades and above (meaning basically that the water quality is Class V+, which is unfit for pretty much any human contact), they will be assessed a one million RMB fine. So far, most of the cities have met quality standards, the article read, including all nine river sections flowing through Chengdu’s jurisdiction. *After Reductions in SO2 and COD, Next Five-Year Plan Might Tackle Nitrogen Oxide* The *Science and Tech Daily *speculated today that the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the central economic framework for 2011-2015 still being cobbled together, could focus on reducing China’s nitrogen oxide emissions<http://green.sohu.com/20100507/n271974363.shtml>. During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Chemical Oxygen Demand were the primary pollution index targets, achieving substantial reductions of 26% and 40%, respectively. Though the next Plan has not been finalized, officials in the Ministry of Environmental Protection have proposed including targets for ammonia in water, nitrogen oxides in the air, and extending COD targets to rural areas as well to account for agricultural runoff. Nitrogen oxides, which contribute to ozone, are emitted in car exhaust and can cause respiratory problems<http://www.epa.gov/air/nitrogenoxides/>[EPA], particularly in crowded cities. *Scientists Report on Qinghai’s Massive Underground Ice Cube* A researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science estimates that there are 9,527 cubic kilometers of frozen water beneath areas of continuous permafrost <http://news.h2o-china.com/html/2010/05/671273197960_1.shtml> in Qinghai Province, *Chengdu Daily* reported Friday. Qinghai has been called “China’s water tower” by some scholars, due to the substantial water stored in its glaciers, mountains, wetlands, grasslands, forests, and lakes. The water frozen beneath permafrost and its ecological implications, however, have apparently been ignored up to now. *English Stories from the Chinese Press** May 6* Heavy rain could threaten more than 30,000 unsafe reservoirs in China: minister<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-05/06/c_13281095.htm>(Xinhua) Yushu reconstruction to be finished in 3 yrs<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/06/content_9818991.htm>(Xinhua) * May 5* Premier Wen says more efforts needed to cut emissions, conserve energy<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-05/05/c_13279535_2.htm>(Xinhua) China Ends Emergency Response as Southwestern Drought Eases<http://www.bjreview.com.cn/headline/txt/2010-05/05/content_270101.htm>(Beijing Review) ~Prepared by Andrew Scheineson ------------------------------ China Environment Brief and China Green News are products of Green Earth Volunteers, a Beijing-based NGO founded by environmental journalist Wang Yongchen. 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