Penalty | Worker who poured industrial wastewater onto grassland; legal representative also detained for 10 days

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On the 18th, reporters learned from the Provincial Environmental Protection Department that recently, the Daqing Environmental Protection Bureau received reports alleging that a company in the Xinghua Industrial Park in Daqing was dumping wastewater into grasslands. Inspectors from the Daqing Environmental Protection Bureau rushed to the scene promptly. After conducting multiple on-site investigations and gathering evidence, they confirmed that the company had illegally discharged industrial wastewater, and handed over the two responsible persons to the police authorities. The whistleblower is a staff member of the Management Committee of Daqing High-Tech Zone. On his way home from work, he noticed wastewater being dumped by the road; he immediately reported the incident to the Management Committee of the high-tech zone as well as the police, and recorded the entire process using his mobile phone. In the video, an orange forklift is parked by the roadside, with a white square plastic bucket on it. A person is using a hose to pour the liquid from the bucket onto the grass nearby; the area of grass covered by the liquid is about 30 square meters. Based on the statements of the informant and the video footage provided by him, the inspectors identified Daqing Xintianyi Technology Co., Ltd. located within the Xinghua Industrial Park. Through a thorough inspection of the company’s premises, the forklift and plastic buckets used in the dumping activity shown in the video were identified; there was still half a bucket of liquid left in the buckets that had not been dumped yet. The person who carried out the dumping was a worker employed by the company. The inspectors seized the forklift and the white plastic buckets used for the dumping on the spot; tests on samples taken from the liquid in the buckets showed that it was industrial wastewater. Faced with facts and evidence, the two perpetrators admitted to dumping industrial wastewater. In accordance with the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the company was ordered to take measures within 10 days to eliminate the pollution in the dumping area, and was fined 300,000 yuan administratively. The Daqing Environmental Protection Bureau transferred the case files to the Wolitun Branch of the Daqing Public Security Bureau. In accordance with Article 63, Paragraph 3 of the Environmental Protection Law, administrative penalties in the form of a 10-day detention were imposed on the company’s legal representative and the individuals who carried out the dumping.