Over 2,000 government officials were disciplined and over 100 violators were detained for criminal pollution charges during an inspection by a central government-deployed supervision team in the strictest environmental law enforcement action ever, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
The Chinese central government's environmental inspection team punished more than 2,000 officials for their poor performance dealing with environmental issues and fined enterprises over 100 million yuan ($15.03 million) during the month-long first stage of the inspection, according to Xinhua.
Additionally, more than 100 people were detained for damaging the environment or causing pollution. The inspection team started their campaign on July 19 in eight provinces and regions, including North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and East China's Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces.
The team aims to push local governments to intensify enforcement of the new Environmental Protection Law, which went into effect on January 1, 2015, Xinhua said.
During the inspection, the team urged 2,111 enterprises in Jiangsu to rectify violations and punished factories and institutions responsible for pollution. Six people at one State-owned coking and gas factory in Jiangxi Province, including the general manager, received administrative punishment from the inspection team for discharging waste gas. Some workshop managers were fired, and the factory was asked to pay a per diem penalty, said Xinhua.
The team also tasked local governments with resolving over 10,000 environmental pollution cases reported by the public, said Xinhua, noting that most cases were closed or are being processed.
The inspection team asked local officials to value public complaints regarding environmental issues and punished officials who provided weak supervision of violators.
According to Xinhua, 71 percent of the cases reported by the public involved air pollution, 35 percent involved water pollution and 16 percent complained of noise pollution.
The inspection team will spend two years conducting inspections nationwide, Xinhua reported, adding that the first stage of the inspection tour will undoubtedly influence the actions of officials in provinces and regions that have not yet been examined.
