Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Officials Punished for Loose Management of Water Pollution
Eight officials with the Environmental Protection Bureau in Bo'ai County of central China'sHenan Province have been given disciplinary warnings due to their negligence in dealing with wastewater discharge by a local pharmaceutical factory.
Eight officials with the Environmental Protection Bureau in Bo'ai County of central China'sHenan Province have been given disciplinary warnings due to their negligence in dealing with wastewater discharge by a local pharmaceutical factory.
On June 16, the State Environmental Protection Administration sent an inspection group to the Bo'ai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to check the company's wastewater discharge. Their survey showed thatthe COD level in the discharged water from the factory had reacheda surprisingly high of 7,000 mg/l (milligrams per liter), or 20 times greater than the national effluent-discharge standard.
COD, or Chemical Oxygen Demand, is defined as the quantity of specified oxidant which reacts within a sample under controlled conditions. It is often used as a measurement of pollutants in natural and waste water to assess the strength of waste such as sewage and industrial discharge.
As early as on Jan. 15, the county's environmental protection bureau received a notice from its higher authorities, which urged it to close down the Bo'ai pharmaceutical factory and deal with its wastewater discharge in a timely manner. However, the bureau ignored the notice.
The punished officials include the director and vice directors of the environmental protection bureau.