SEPA Closes Factory After Official Negligence Causes Lead Poisoning in Children

State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) officials postponed all new construction projects in Jiaozuo city, Henan province, after investigations revealed that official negligence allowed pollution from an illegal electrolytic lead factory to poison hundreds of children in Mafang district, Jiaozuo, according to an October 24 21st Century Business Herald report, an October 19 China Daily report, and an October 18 SEPA press release.

The Jiaozuo city government evidently agreed in early 2003 to permit the lead factory project to proceed without environmental inspection and approval. In April 2004, the factory began testing production with incomplete pollution control equipment, in violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the Regulations on Environmental Management for Construction Projects, according to the SEPA press release. As a result, the air increasingly became polluted with lead smoke and dust, according to a September 15 Xinhua article, and a September 19 CCTV interview with villagers and officials. Parents in Mafang district began sending their children to live away from the factory after tests concluded that almost 90 percent of the 259 children under 14 who were tested suffered from lead poisoning, according to the reports.

SEPA officials identified four causes of the pollution incident, according to the 21st Century Business Herald report:

• The local government neglected its environmental protection duties by considering only the economic impact of the project rather than also considering the public health impact.
• The Jiaozuo Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) approved the project without performing an inspection.
• The local environmental impact assessment center did not compile a complete EIA report.
• Part of the factory construction plans did not pass environmental assessment.

SEPA officials are cooperating with the Henan provincial EPB to penalize the Jiaozuo EPB, although neither body has announced the specific penalties to be assessed. In addition, SEPA will postpone all new construction projects approved by Jiaozuo city authorities to allow experts to conduct new assessments, according to an October 19 Beijing News article. SEPA officials consider this project typical of those in which a company builds a factory, begins production, and starts contributing to local government finances to avoid the required environmental inspection, according to the 21st Century Business Herald report. SEPA’s moves to bring new projects into compliance with China's environmental laws are part of a larger effort to implement environmental protection regulations at the local level.