The Rivers Run Red: what can we learn from the recent spate of environmental accidents in China?
It has been a horrible month for China’s environment. Last week while workers in northeast China pulled more than 3,000 barrels – each containing 170 kilograms (374 lbs.) of flammable chemicals – out of the Songhua River, a plastics factory in Nanjing burned, China’s largest-ever oil spill engulfed the waters of Dalian, and acid overflowing a mine poisoned the Ting River in the southern province of Fujian, killing nearly two million kilograms of fish and putting local populations at severe risk. It has not been any better in the U.S., as the BP oil spill worked through its fourth month, a Michigan pipeline spilled more than 840,000 gallons of oil, and U.S. climate legislation collapsed (for now) in a cloud of recriminations.
Many policymakers and environmentalists are seeing the current spate of environmental disasters as only the latest sign that the chickens are finally coming home to roost for China’s environment. These and the series of heavy metal poisonings of more than 4,000 people last year are the predictable consequence of three decades of unsustainable development. These accidents strongly support the notion that, as China’s senior leadership has already stated, China must change its development model to a more sustainable one. They also point to the urgent need to lay an effective foundation for environmental transparency and stronger enforcement in China.
Zijin Mining Group’s Inadequate Disclosure of China Acid Spill – What Needs to be Done?
[11 Chinese environmental groups issued a letter to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges last week calling for greater environmental transparency for listed companies in the aftermath of the Zijin Mining chemical spill: NGO呼吁沪港两交易所完善上市公司信息披露制. NRDC supports this call and signs on to the letter. The following is an English translation of the original letter.]
Regarding Zijin Mining Group’s Suspected Intentional Delay in
Disclosing Information about its Pollution Incident
An Open Letter to the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange:
We would like to call to the attention of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) the actions of the listed company Zijin Mining Group (2899.HK, 601899.SH). This company has been suspected of inappropriate acts and deliberate delay in the disclosure of information related to a major pollution incident. We request that the HKEx and SSE thoroughly carry out an investigation into this matter. Following verification that violations were committed, we request that the HKSE and SSE issue a public denouncement and appropriate punishment. Concurrently, we call on the HKEx and SSE to improve their institutional rules and regulations regarding information disclosure to ensure effective protection of the environment and affected communities, and to uphold investor interests.
According to an article published by Xinhua News Agency on July 3, 2010, an incident occurred at the Zijin Mining Group’s Zijinshan Copper Mine. The incident involved a leak of 9,100 cubic meters of acid from the plant’s wet sewage facilities into the Ting River, resulting in serious pollution and the death of 1890 tons of aquatic life. The Zijin Mining Group not only delayed public announcement of this grevious incident for a period of nine days but also claimed that the reason for the pollution incident was due to rainfall, stating, “this leakage incident is primarily related to natural disaster. It was impossible to predict.”[1]
This statement clearly contradicts official judgements rendered on the case. Read more…