China arrests 12 people for dumping toxic waste

Beijing, Jul 17 (PTI) At least 12 people were today arrested by Chinese authorities for dumping more than 2,500 tonnes of toxic waste into the Yangtze River in China's Anhui Province in 2017, accordin

Beijing, Jul 17 (PTI) At least 12 people were today arrested by Chinese authorities for dumping more than 2,500 tonnes of toxic waste into the Yangtze River in China’s Anhui Province in 2017, according to a media report.

The charges were filed by a people’s procuratorate in China’s Wushu city against a waste treatment company in the neighbouring Jiangsu Province for allegedly subcontracting its garbage to unqualified parties for disposal in January 2017, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The economic cost to dispose of this garbage is around 7.94 million yuan (around USD 1.2 million) and restoring the polluted environment is estimated to cost another 3.17 million yuan(USD 0.47 million).

The accused allegedly subcontracted its garbage to unqualified parties for disposal in January 2017, the report said.

Three ships transported the garbage from Jiangsu and neighbouring Zhejiang Province to Tongling City in Anhui in October 2017. The accused allegedly made two failed attempts to dump another 4,410 tonnes of waste, according to the procuratorate, the report said.

Prosecutors said the garbage contained toxic substances and polluted the river, soil and underground water in the dumping area.

Yangtze, the world’s third longest river, located in China. It flows from the mountainous glaciers of the Tibetan plateau 6,418 km across China to the East China Sea at Shanghai.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.