China's environmental watchdog has taken three cities, one
county and one industrial zone off its blacklist as these places
have passed environmental reassessment.
The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said in
a notice on Sunday that the five areas have met the "essential
requirements" of environmental protection after "earnest
overhaul."
Laboratory technicians test
water quality of the first sweage treatment plant built in the
source of the Hanjiang River.
The areas which was the first batch removed from the list
include Bayan Nur in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Zhoukou city
in Henan Province, Weinan city in Shaanxi Province, Xiangfen county in Shanxi Province, and the industrial zone in
Wuhu city of Anhui Province.
The SEPA's vice director Pan Yue said the administration will
"strengthen inspection and supervision over these areas and
constantly conduct on-the-spot check to see whether the companies
have lived up to their word on environmental protection and to
guard against a rebound."
Eight other places were still on the SEPA's blacklist as they
failed to meet the requirements for environmental protection.
Local authorities in six cities, two counties and five
industrial zones - all in the vicinity of the Yellow River, the
Yangtze River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River - were
blacklisted by the SEPA in early July.
Nationwide monitoring results showed that water running through
these cities and counties was "heavily polluted" during the first
four months of this year.
They were told to immediately suspend construction projects that
have not gone through environmental assessments and were only given
three months to fix their "environmental problems."
The SEPA also asked polluters affecting the rivers to remove
sewage exits to drinking-water reservoirs and make sure sewage
disposal facilities are in good working order.
(Xinhua New Agency September 23, 2007)
