SEPA vows to investigate serious polluters

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), China's environmental regulator, has launched investigations into the nation's most notorious polluters, including into the chemical spill in the Mangniu River at the end of August 2006. The Mangniu River was polluted with xylidine by Changbaishan Jinxi Chemical Co, sending a 5km slick of bubbly red water downstream. The government brought in more than 1,000 soldiers and firefighters to stop the pollution drifting and ordered the plant's closure.

Other targets of SEPA's investigations include the Harbin Gasification Factory, which has failed to conduct a single environmental impact assessment (EIA) since it opened in 1992 and has been discharging wastewater with a high content of pollutants; the Xin'an county government, which has allowed the construction of 100 factories since 1998 with no waste-treatment facilities; and the municipal government in Jinhua, which allegedly interfered with environmental law enforcement.