Sept 27, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na
 
According to a CCTV News report that aired yesterday morning, the Ministry of Environmental Protection have revealed serious environmental violations at three Guangdong-based petrochemical companies connected to Sinopec Group.

The three subsidiaries outed in the report are Sinopec Dongxing Company (中石化东兴公司), New Zhongmei Company (新中美公司) and Sinopec Guangzhou (广州石化). Dongxing and Sinopec Guangzhou are refineries. New Zhongmei is a joint venture in which Sinopec holds controlling stake and mainly produces polystryrene.

Inspections by the environmental regulator revealed that a portion of the wastewater produced by Dongxing was passing through the rainwater system and  being directly released into the external environment. The company also resumed production without permission after the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Department ordered it to halt trial production after irregularities were revealed.

New Zhongmei was said to have removed waste-water treatment facilities without authorization, allowing pollutants to be directly discharged into the rainwater drains. New Zhongmei was also accused of diluting waste water and then discharge it into the regular drainage system.

Sinopec Guangzhou was found to have two tanks storing a large quantity of dangerous liquids, which could cause serious environmental pollution in the event of an accident.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has asked Sinopec Group to step in and ensure that its subsidiaries deal with the environmental issues raised by the inspection and has also demanded that Dongxing cease trial production, The regulator also ordered New Zhongmei and Sinopec Guangzhou to rectify their problems before an unspecified deadline.

According to official data, in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has investigated and dealt with 26 environmental emergencies. Nine of these emergencies occurred in Guangdong Province, the most of any region in the country.

Links and Sources
The Beijing News: 广东中石化被曝严重环境违法
CCTV: 中石化环境违法和风险隐患突出