A number of factories that seriously pollute the environment in the Wusong Industrial Park will be shut down next year, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau announced yesterday.
The move is aimed at greatly reducing the amount of pollution created in the old industrial park by next year. The park, which is located in Baoshan District, is home to nearly 10 percent of the city's worst polluters, bureau officials said.
The bureau is now in talks with several factories, mainly in the chemical and metallurgy industries, about shutting down.
Officials refuse to say how many factories will close or name the likely candidates out of fear such an announcement will upset workers.
"Based on outdated technology, some factories there create serious pollution while the added value of their products is small. It's better to shut them down," said Sun Jian, the bureau's vice director.
In 1999, the city set aside 2.7 billion yuan (US$325 million) to improve the environment in the park over six years.
The main goal is to improve air quality in the park, especially cutting down dust discharge, which used to account for 29.4 percent of the city's total discharge each year.
Nearby residents have long complained about the poor air quality in the area, which used to have a higher incidence rate of asthma than any other part of the city.
The city's six-year plan called for seven enterprises that seriously pollute the environment to be closed by the end of next year. But by August this year, 12 enterprises and 34 production lines had already been closed, with more companies to be added to the shutdown list next year.
Other measures include building more parks and forests in the area and closing small coal-fired boilers.