【Weekly Topic】- Heilongjiang issues the largest fine in environmental protection history; Huaneng Heating fined 2 million
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This post was last edited by zhaolijun on 2015-6-16 at 17:55. In the first quarter of 2015, the Harbin Environmental Protection Bureau conducted a comprehensive inspection and supervisory monitoring of the air pollutant emissions from Harbin Huaneng Central Heating Co., Ltd. Upon investigation, it was found that Boiler No. 8 in the first phase of the enterprise’s construction was engaged in illegal emissions exceeding permitted levels. Thereafter, the Harbin Environmental Protection Bureau ordered the city’s environmental inspection team to issue a \"Decision to Order Rectification of Illegal Acts\" to the enterprise in accordance with the law, and imposed an administrative fine of 100,000 yuan in line with Article 48 of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law. Following re-inspections and re-measurements on April 1, 2015, the enterprise continued to emit air pollutants in excess of the allowed levels, refusing to correct its illegal activities, and such excessive emissions persisted for 19 consecutive days. In accordance with Article 59 of the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Harbin Environmental Protection Bureau imposed a continuous daily fine of 1.9 million yuan on the enterprise; together with the existing fine of 100,000 yuan, this amounts to a total of 2 million yuan. Recently, a decision regarding the continuous daily fines was served on the enterprise. What do people think of this incident? Is the punishment too severe?
As **penalties for environmental violations become stricter, maintaining the old approach of using connections to get things done will lead to disaster – and serious consequences!
Once environmental pollution occurs, the damage it causes is severe; only by addressing environmental protection at its root can we prevent such pollution. Fines are just a means; I don’t consider them important
Severe punishment should be imposed. Punish them so severely that they can’t produce. At the same time, organizations that perform well in environmental protection should be rewarded, with awards of such a high amount as to be enviable.
Over the years, environmental regulation has resulted in excessively high costs for compliance with laws and excessively low costs for breaking them, which inevitably leads some companies to be willing to violate the laws and accept penalties； For example, in terms of sewage treatment, a single set of equipment can cost tens of millions, and the annual operating costs amount to several million as well ； The fine is by far not that much.
Severe penalties are necessary; only by imposing such continuous daily penalties on companies can they truly take environmental regulations seriously. Otherwise, settling things in one go can easily lead them to think that money can solve everything.
I guess you all are from other places; I’m from Harbin. If you experience the climate changes during the winter months over the past two or three years (which last about four to five months), especially the fog, then you’ll understand why the environmental protection authorities have taken these actions. It’s time to address this situation; in fact, there are still many companies here that cause dust pollution. These penalties serve as some comfort for us ordinary people, and it now depends on the fog conditions during this winter.
Pollution in Harbin is also increasing steadily, with more and more days of fog； Last year, during the foggy days of winter, buses got lost; even the head of the environmental protection agency went to check on the situation and also got lost. With such severe pollution, firm action is necessary to achieve meaningful improvement.
This post was last edited by Handan Xuebu on 2015-6-16 at 17:25. It’s just like living our daily lives – by using such strong deterrence to force people to change certain habits; once such habits are established, no one will want to violate or break them； In this impetuous society of today, everyone looks at what others are doing; if Company A can secretly discharge pollutants, then others will also take shortcuts to do the same (for economic gain), and over time this practice spreads, leading to the situation we see today.
Following re-inspections and re-measurements on April 1, 2015, the enterprise continued to emit air pollutants in excess of the allowed levels, refusing to correct its illegal activities, and such excessive emissions persisted for 19 consecutive days. ---------------------------------------------- What is the cost of environmental pollution for these 19 days???????