Three executives jailed over toxic lake

By Wang Huazhong in Beijing and Li Yingqing in Kunming (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-03 10:01

Three managers have been jailed and a company fined 16 million yuan ($2.3 million) for releasing arsenic into a vital water source for three counties in Yunnan province.

Chengjiang Jinye Industry and Trade Co Ltd was yesterday found guilty of not taking necessary preventative measures, such as anti-infiltration, to protect its surrounding environment.

This "indirectly" led to the contamination of Yangzonghai Lake, which covers 186 square kilometers and flows through the counties of Chengjiang, Chenggong and Yiliang.

Chairman of the board, Li Dahong, general manger, Li Yaohong, and head of production technology, Jin Dadong, were found guilty of causing significant environmental damage and each sentenced to between three and four years jail. Li was fined 300,000 yuan and the other two managers were each fined 150,000 yuan.

The company and the three managers - who pleaded not guilty - said they would appeal against the ruling.

As the judgment was handed down in Chengjiang county court yesterday, the local environmental protection bureau (EPB) revealed that it was seeking 200 million yuan to stop further pollution of the lake, which has ten times the safe amount of arsenic for drinking water.

The funding would also be used to clean up localized pollution of the lake, he said.

The court said malpractice by the company led to 26,000 residents being unable to access drinking water from the lake and cost more than 1 million yuan in damage to a public asset. It said that this amounted to significant environmental damage.

The judgment was the latest development in the pollution tragedy, which has led to the sacking of 12 government officials including the vice mayor of Yuxi city. They were among 26 people fired over the contamination by the local government last October.

Court documents show the monitoring station in Yiliang county, which neighbors Chengjiang, found the level of arsenic concentration in the water grew from 0 mg/L in October 2007 to 0.102mg/L on July 16, 2008.

The amount of arsenic in drinking water should not exceed 0.01mg/L, according to State sanitary standards, which came into effect on July 1, 2007.

Zhang Yong, head of Chengjiang EPB, said residents in Chenggong and Yiliang were most affected by the polluted lake.

He said the bureau will ask for a grant to help clear the pollution in a proposal due to be submitted to the provincial government on June 15.

"The 200 million grant we are about to apply for will effectively help us avert the dire situation here and clean up the source of the pollution over the next 12 months," said Zhang.

Qin Guangrong, Yunnan's provincial governor, estimated in April that it would take three years to bring the density to a safe level, below 0.05 mg per liter, and would cost about 4 billion yuan, Xinhua reported.

In July 2008, a water plant that it drew its supply from the lake was suspended, affecting some 26,000 residents.

A local bureau of water resources official, surnamed Zhang, said the people in Chengjiang county draw their tap water from mountain springs and not the polluted lake.

An official with the Yiliang county water resource bureau declined to tell China Daily where it sourced its water supply.

Last October, it was reported that five million yuan had been allocated to ensure the provision of safe water to residents and the ecology around the lake.

Meanwhile, Zhang said that the bureau would pay special attention to protecting the lake by preventing chemicals from local industry filtering into soil deposits.

It would urge local companies to use cleaner materials during production and strengthen environmental standards.