Authorities crack down on polluting charcoal kilns

The continuous smog in China is pushing authorities towards tightening air quality control. As one of the regions in North China affected by the heavy smog, local authorities in Hebei province are cracking down on polluting charcoal kilns.

Everywhere you go, the smoke follows. There's no escape from it. Heading west from Linzhang County of Handan, its smell in the air gets stronger. Soon, we find ourselves among these smoking charcoal kilns where workers are shovelling saw dust into kilns to turn out charcoal bars.

"Smoke is less dense today. On other days, most people can't bear it. Our village is nearly uninhabitable." Charcoal kiln owner from Beitou village, Hebei province, said.

The smoke is stifling. It makes people gasp for air and cough. Respiratory diseases among children aren't uncommon in nearby villages.

"The process of making charcoal requires it to burn under low oxygen circumstances. But it produces smoke containing large number of organics, and they are the major material that cause air pollution as well as raise the level of PM2.5." Professor Guo Bin from Hebei University of Science & Technology, said.

There it is, hundreds of charcoals kilns, smoking day and night, without any dust-proof measures.

A coordinated operation led by the local Environmental Protection Department is aiming to eliminate all the charcoal workshops in Linzhang County.

"We have dismantled 54 charcoals kilns and will continue to shut down all charcoal production in the county area." Li Guojun, director of Environmental Protection Bureau of Linzhang County, said.

But many people think this will not solve the problem as many local villagers have seen several similar actions before.

Actually, since 2006, the County government of Linzhang has been shutting down these charcoals kilns in the hundreds every year. The last operation was conducted in the middle of July this year. Over 200 kilns were dismantled then, but the number bounces back every time.

"They couldn't dismantle all the kilns because there are too many. Even though some had been dismantled, they were soon rebuilt." Charcoal kiln owner from Nan Dongfang village, Hebei province, said.

Low-cost and high profit is driving local people to return to the business even at the risk of polluting their hometowns and endangering their own children's health.

Local authorities are working on another solution; setting up an industrial park to supervise charcoal production.

"We are setting terms for companies entering the industrial park, especially on the environmental protection equipment they use." Zhang Yaning, deputy country chief of Linzhang county, Hebei province, said.

Since the new plan is still in its formative stage, the local authority has no choice but to continue to shut down these polluting kilns. In the interim, people are likely to go on living with the smoke.