【First in the country】Dezhou summoned by the Ministry of Environmental Protection for inadequate emergency response to severe pollution

Thread Content

According to a report from CCTV News App on December 10, severe air pollution has occurred in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas since November 28. The East China Inspection Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection conducted an emergency inspection regarding severe air pollution in Shandong Province from November 30 to December 3 this year. Inspections revealed serious issues in Dezhou’s emergency response efforts. At 3 p.m. on December 10, the East China Inspection Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection held a discussion with the main responsible officials of the Dezhou People’s Government; this was the first city in the country to be subject to such a discussion due to inadequate emergency responses to severe air pollution. The reporter found in the meeting room of the East China Inspection Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection that the venue had been simply decorated, with name tags already placed on the tables. During its inspection of Dezhou City, the Ministry of Environmental Protection identified three main issues related to emergency responses to severe air pollution: the first was a weak capacity for early warning and prediction, with significant inaccuracies in the forecast results. On November 28, the air quality index in Dezhou reached 252, indicating severe pollution. However, the forecast results of that day indicated that, within the next 48 hours, due to the influence of weak cold air and precipitation, the air quality index would drop below 200. However, on the 29th the actual air quality index reached 352, and on the 30th it even reached 500, indicating severe pollution ； The second issue is that Dezhou showed a clear tendency toward dogmatism in dealing with this severe air pollution, relying solely on the results of early warning predictions. Even when there were significant deviations in the prediction results, no timely response was made. The third issue is that in April of this year, Dezhou City revised its existing emergency response plans, but the newly revised plans represent a significant decline in the intensity of the emergency emission reduction measures. Under Level 4 and Level 3 responses, there are no measures to suspend production or reduce emissions; under Level 2 response, the reduction in production and emissions is lowered from 60% to 15%; under Level 1 response, all production activities other than those necessary to ensure people’s basic living needs are suspended, with emissions reduced by 30%. During this period of severe air pollution, Dezhou maintained the lowest blue warning level, taking no actual measures to reduce emissions in response to the serious air quality issues.