China punishes 12,000 polluting enterprises ( 2003-09-24 21:54) (Xinhua) About 12,000 Chinese
enterprises have been punished for discharging excessive pollutants during a
national inspection, Pan Yue, vice-president of the State Environmental
Protection Administration announced Wednesday in Beijing.
More than 6,800 of these enterprises would be shut down or have production
suspended for serious violation of environmental protection laws, said Pan.
During the inspections, which started late June, the administration together
with another five central government departments inspected 150,000 enterprises,
most of them metallurgical and chemical plants.
The administration has also published a list of enterprises that had caused
serious environmental damage.
The national inspections had greatly curbed excessive discharges of
pollutants in some areas and remarkably improved local environments, Pan
said.
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