MEP Blames 45 Firms for Violating Environmental Laws   

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) publicly criticizes 45 firms that have violated the environmental laws and asked the related local governments to punish them strictly, and supervise and help them to solve the problems. These enterprises include Jiamusi Heilong Agricultural and Industrial Chemical Co., Ltd., Liaoning Wulong Gold Mining Industry Co., Ltd., 22 small iron-smelting firms in Xuanwei of Yunnan province, 7 small refineries in Daying of Sichuan province and COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd.'s 14 branch companies in Xinjiang region.  
    Jiamusi Heilong Agricultural and Industrial Chemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of ChemChina, was built in 1958, with a workforce of 1 921 now. It operates production lines such as 35 000 t/a caustic soda, 20 000 t/a hydrochloric acid, 20 000 t/a liquid chlorine, 2 500 t/a chloroacetic acid, 3 000 t/a butyl 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetate and 8 000 t/a 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetate. The company was to blame for discharging waste water from its chlor-alkali facility into the adjacent river without any treatment, starting operation of the waste water treatment facility for the 8 000 t/a 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetate production line without approval in advance. The pre-treatment facility for high concentration organic waste water from pesticide unit can not operate steadily.   
    The cyanide containing waste water discharged by Liaoning Wulong Gold Mining Industry Co., Ltd. polluted a reservoir.  
   The 22 iron-smelting works in Xuanwei of Yunnan province have not built any environmental protection facility, with outdated production technology and small scale, which should have been shut down and dismantled.
   COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd.'s 14 food processing branches in Xinjiang region have always discharged waste water without any treatment.
   Seven small refineries in Daying county of Sichuan province have operated with outdated refining units that should be dismantled according to the central government's policy. Six of them have never got the permit certifications of dangerous wastes operation.