Environmental chief quits over toxic spill
3/12/2005 8:43
The country's environmental chief has resigned following a two-week
crisis over a toxic spill that seriously polluted the Songhua River, forced the
shutdown of tapwater supplies to millions of residents in northeastern China and
raised alarm in Russia.
The state Council, China's Cabinet, yesterday
approved the resignation of Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental
Protection Administration since 1993.
"Xie submitted a resignation request to
the Communist Party of China's Central Committee and the State Council. The
request has been approved," said a joint statement from the Party and the
central government.
Xie becomes the highest-ranking official to be removed
from office for an environmental mishap.
The 56-year-old Xie was replaced by
Zhou Shengxian, former director of the State Forestry Administration.
"After
major water pollution occurred, the SEPA failed to pay sufficient attention to
the incident and underestimated its possible serious impact," said the
statement. "It should bear responsibility for the losses caused by this
incident."
One hundred tons of toxic benzene spilled into the Songhua River
after a chemical plant explosion on November 13 in northeast China's Jilin
Province.
The mishap forced cities along the river, including Harbin,
capital of Heilongjiang Province, to temporarily suspend their tap water
supplies.
The pollutants are expected to flow into a major river linking
China and Russia, and environmental cooperation is under way to minimize the
effects of the pollution.
The statement ordered governmment departments to
step up investigation into the causes of the explosion and pollution and vowed
to "seriously punish those responsible."
Jiang chengsong, a member of the
Environmental and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's
Congress, China's top legislature, said the quick replacement of the
environmental chief after the Songhua River pollution incident also shows the
improvement of China's political system.
"It indicates that the country's
official accountability system has become more mature," he said.
China
activated the accountability system during the SARS crisis in 2003. More than
1,000 officials, including then Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor
Meng Xuenong, were ousted for their attempts to cover up the SARS epidemic and
for incompetence.
The environmental protection administration said it
received no reports about the chemical spill from Jilin provincial authorities
from November 14 to 17. As a result, the "best opportunity" to control the spill
had been lost, Wang Yuqing, vice-minister of the administration, told a national
teleconference on Thursday.
The slick is winding its way northeast toward the
Siberian city of Khabarovsk, through areas populated by millions of Chinese.
Yesterday it was passing through the town of Dalianhe, where water supplies were
cut off on Thursday.
Downstream in Jiamusi City, officials shut down a major
water plant near the river serving 2.4 million people to prevent contamination.
They were tapping groundwater and deepening wells before the belt of pollution
hits, likely by Tuesday.
Xinhua
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