Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200810/20081024/article_378018.htm
Lake damage, 12 fired
Created: 2008-10-24 1:07:23
Author:Yang Lifei
TWENTY-SIX officials were held accountable for the pollution of Yangzonghai Lake in Yunnan Province, according to China.com.cn.
The report said 12 people were sacked over the lake's arsenic pollution, including Chen Zhifeng, vice mayor of Yuxi City. The sacked officials included staff at the environmental protection and water bureau departments at all levels in the province.
Yangzonghai Lake is one of nine plateau lakes in Yunnan. It extends more than 30 square kilometers and is 36 kilometers from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan.
The lake's water quality had been listed as good since 2002. But in June, the province's environmental protection department found abnormal levels of arsenic in the lake.
An investigation of businesses along the lake found that Yunnan Chenjiang Jinye Industrial and Trade Co was responsible for the arsenic pollution, according to the report.
An absence of wastewater treatment allowed arsenic to circulate through the company's water systems. The company also did not have anti-seepage measures and waste filtered into ground water that eventually polluted the lake, the report said.
The environmental protection department's investigation concluded that it would take at least three years to restore water quality to a third-grade standard.
The report said 12 people were sacked over the lake's arsenic pollution, including Chen Zhifeng, vice mayor of Yuxi City. The sacked officials included staff at the environmental protection and water bureau departments at all levels in the province.
Yangzonghai Lake is one of nine plateau lakes in Yunnan. It extends more than 30 square kilometers and is 36 kilometers from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan.
The lake's water quality had been listed as good since 2002. But in June, the province's environmental protection department found abnormal levels of arsenic in the lake.
An investigation of businesses along the lake found that Yunnan Chenjiang Jinye Industrial and Trade Co was responsible for the arsenic pollution, according to the report.
An absence of wastewater treatment allowed arsenic to circulate through the company's water systems. The company also did not have anti-seepage measures and waste filtered into ground water that eventually polluted the lake, the report said.
The environmental protection department's investigation concluded that it would take at least three years to restore water quality to a third-grade standard.
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