CCTV News: Recently, a netizen named Jin Zengmin from Zhejiang said in his Weibo that he was willing to pay 200,000 yuan to invite the environmental protection director of Ruian, Zhejiang Province to "swim" in the river for 20 minutes. The reason is that during the Spring Festival this year, when he returned to his hometown of Ryan, he found that a river with beautiful scenery at his doorstep was now seriously polluted. This Weibo was forwarded by netizens, which aroused widespread concern in society. This Friday, the reporter came to Jinguang Village, Xian Jiang, Rui ‘an, a heavily polluted river.
Reporter: This is the river published in Weibo. In Xianjiang Town of Rui ‘an, there are many rivers passing through the town like this, so it is so ordinary that it doesn’t even have a name. After the incident, the local government also cleaned up the river to some extent, but now I still smell a pungent and sour smell when I stand by the river. So what is its water quality now? We can now see from the visual inspection that it is very turbid.
Reporter: When you get down to this river, you will feel that there is more water in this state of the river, which is still white and dirty.
There is silt in it, and the measured water is very turbid, and there are many things with this sediment. There are also floating domestic garbage and a lot of sundries in it, so what is the water quality of it? We want to carry out some tests through some professional institutions. In such a river, let alone swimming, it is very difficult to accept it when standing in such a position to see such a river.
With the water samples taken, we came to Ruian Environmental Monitoring Station, and the staff began to test the water samples.
Reporter: What is the result of the test now?
Zhou Senlin, Ruian Environmental Monitoring Station: After our afternoon test, the concentration of chemical oxygen demand of this water sample is 126 mg per liter.
Reporter: In layman’s terms, what is its pollution level?
Zhou Linsen: According to the content of COD (chemical oxygen demand), this water quality belongs to the environmental quality standard of surface water, which is inferior to five categories.
Reporter: That’s the worst gear.
Zhou Linsen: Right.
Reporter: What kind of impact will such pollution have in the local area?
Zhou Linsen: It should be said that according to the COD content, it should belong to organic pollution. Organic pollution is caused by various reasons, such as domestic sewage, such as industrial garbage, and wastewater soaked in rain, which may cause high COD (chemical oxygen demand).
COD seriously exceeds the standard, pungent smell and garbage can be seen everywhere. For this seriously polluted regional river, we interviewed Bao Zhenming, the director of Ruian Environmental Protection Bureau. On this day, Bao Zhenming was transferred from Ruian Safety Supervision Bureau to Environmental Protection Bureau for 11 months.
Reporter: If the pollution situation like this lasts for such a long time, is it possible to cause some deep pollution to groundwater?
Bao Zhenming: Pollution definitely exists, I think.
Reporter: Have you evaluated the relationship between the local water quality and groundwater?
Bao Zhenming: We did it to the water body, and our testing station in Ryan did it, and the result was done. That is to say, there is more domestic sewage in it.
Reporter: What is the test you didn’t do?
Bao Zhenming: It’s the groundwater you mentioned, that is, we haven’t done anything about the soil, and there is no oxygen value involved. Maybe you reminded me next, and I also suggested that they should do it.
Reporter: What else will you test next?
Bao Zhenming: The next step is to focus on polluting enterprises, that is, chemical enterprises and electroplating enterprises, that is, major polluting enterprises. We have to test the water and gas it emits, and we have to test the surrounding environment. Test regularly.
On the second day after the Weibo incident, the environmental protection director who was invited to swim rushed to the scene, which shocked Bao Zhenming.
Reporter: After the Weibo incident, I don’t know what kind of influence it has brought to you personally, because many people may feel embarrassed when they see it?
Bao Zhenming: After publishing information in Weibo, I said that the opportunity for environmental protection work has come.
Reporter: Do you see it as an opportunity?
Bao Zhenming: Yes, why? We have awakened, and some people have already awakened to the environment.
Reporter: After this incident, did you have any contact with Mr. Jin who published Weibo?
Bao Zhenming: Yes. I called. I said thank you. If every citizen loves his hometown as much as he does, and all our units have been moving for a long time, then this thing will not happen.
Reporter: You don’t care about such negative reports?
Bao Zhenming: I am really calm. Do people say you are under pressure? There is definitely pressure, and I’m worried.
Reporter: What are you worried about?
Bao Zhenming: This shows that some of our work has not been done properly. Through these things, the whole society will be aroused to pay attention to our environmental protection work. Then some environmental protection work is helpless, and some efforts are not enough. Through this matter, I believe it will definitely change and improve.
After the Weibo incident, the relevant departments of Ruian City have started to clean up the river garbage and rectify the pollution. This Friday, at the river pollution point in Jinguang Village, we saw several workers cleaning the river surface, but the cleaning work was slow due to the narrow access road.
Reporter: How long has it been cleaned here?
Cleaner: It has been cleaned for several days.
Reporter: What is the task for you to clean up?
Cleaner: Just pick up the garbage on it first, and pick up the dirty ones first.
Reporter: So where do these rubbish go?
Cleaner: There’s a garbage dump over there. Put it in the garbage dump.
Reporter: Go to the garbage dump.
Cleaner: Take it to the top later, and then drag it to the garbage dump.
Bing Gu: From this position, we can see that the river is basically shallow, and the related cleaning work is still going on. However, if we really only control the garbage on the river surface, it may be difficult to change the cleanliness of the river.
Since the early 1990s, with the rise of Ruian Industry, small local processing plants have developed rapidly. In Xianjiang Town, a small place, the factory buildings of enterprises were built along the river in disorder.
Reporter: Judging from the salvaged garbage, besides domestic garbage, there are many rubber wastes left over from industrial processing. On both sides of this river, we see few houses, all of which are very dense small shoe processing factories. Then some of the wastewater and waste residue generated by these processing plants will be discharged into the river I just saw. So which departments should be responsible for such supervision of some pollution of these enterprises?
There is a serious pollution problem in the rivers in Jinguang Village. The Ruian Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government held a special mobilization meeting for river regulation, asking the Environmental Protection Bureau to take the lead, and the water conservancy, health, municipal administration, industry and commerce, local streets and other units actively cooperated to comprehensively carry out garbage cleaning and pollution regulation. However, in the past few days, the Environmental Protection Bureau, as the lead department, has always encountered helplessness in its work.
Reporter: Where did something go wrong?
Bao Zhenming: All our departments are equal to us, which means you have to supervise and give unified guidance. I don’t think the intensity of this work is enough.
Reporter: Do you mean that this concept of peer-to-peer means how difficult it will be to coordinate?
Bao Zhenming: Small horse-drawn carts.
Reporter: What is a pony? What is a cart?
Bao Zhenming: Pony, I think it is our Environmental Protection Bureau, and we are also a bureau. That is to say, there are more than a dozen environmental management departments.
Reporter: Can’t Pony do it alone?
Bao Zhenming: We do this by ourselves. That is to say, like river regulation, our responsibilities are different, like environmental sanitation management, which is beyond our jurisdiction.
Reporter: What kind of area is the responsibility of the environmental protection department?
Bao Zhenming: Supervision.
Reporter: Is anyone actually doing such supervision work?
Bao Zhenming: At present, we have not carried out this work very well. This may still be a mechanism.
Reporter: What kind of mechanism does the mechanism refer to?
Bao Zhenming: We just mean peer-to-peer units. How can we supervise them?
Reporter: If you find that this river is polluted now, as an environmental protection department, do you have the right to enforce the law to inform enterprises or relevant departments?
Bao Zhenming: We are involved not only in rivers, but also in other departments, that is to say, if this pollution belongs to which department and you are going to rectify it, then we will definitely inform you by letter. If it is done well or not, that is another matter. But through this matter, our environmental protection department will definitely do so in the future.
In the course of river regulation, the Environmental Protection Bureau has also stepped up its efforts and sent people to inspect the surrounding areas of polluted rivers.
Bao Zhenming: These days. Last night, I had two groups of people patrolling.
Reporter: What to do?
Bao Zhenming: It’s just an inspection, to see if the enterprise has illegally discharged industrial wastewater and dumped industrial garbage. But if you are there for 24 hours, I don’t think that’s possible, but I believe it will have some effect.
Reporter: But this morning, we also took a video in the river. You can take a look. Just next to the river, an enterprise is still throwing some garbage into the river.
Bao Zhenming: It may be that we are not avoiding this issue at present. This kind of emission. Generally speaking, when our staff are not there, he secretly dumps those industrial wastes while others are not paying attention. Our current Feiyun environmental management office, the next Feiyun environmental management office, has three streets under its supervision, and there is only one village with only five people.
Reporter: How big is the area he wants to manage?
Bao Zhenming: The area is nearly 20 square kilometers. Yesterday, we made a special study. We specially transferred seven personnel from other institutes, including the departments in our bureau, to give priority to supporting them there. In this case, we say that we should immediately file a case and punish it. If it is serious, we can shut it down.
In the interview, we walked into a company next to the river.
Reporter: Why should everyone build on this river?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: This is what may have been planned before.
Reporter: Planned?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: Yes.
Reporter: But what kind of state will water like you be discharged into this river? Because it is not being discharged now, I don’t know what kind of water will be discharged.
Business owner Jin Qiudi: It should be very clean, and the water discharged should be absolutely clean.
This shoe-making enterprise was established at the end of 2012 and is now in the trial operation stage. After the Weibo incident, this shoe factory was ordered to stop work because the environmental protection approval procedures were not completed.
Reporter: Without EIA, can we start trial operation directly?
Jin Qiudi, the business owner: I’ve just done this right now, and I still don’t understand some policies. Here’s the thing.
Reporter: How long have you lived in this town?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: I am in the town. I was born here, grew up here, and is here.
Reporter: Do you remember what this river looked like when you were a child?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: When I was a child, it was ok when there was no industry at that time.
Reporter: Did you swim in the river when you were young?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: Traveling is traveling.
Reporter: Have you ever swam?
Business owner Jin Qiudi: Mm-hmm.
Reporter: Have you also swam in the river?
Jin Qiudi, the business owner: I have also had it.
Reporter: but now this situation may never be seen again.
Jin Qiudi, the business owner: Anyway, I think it’s all the same in China.
Reporter: Why do you say that all China is like this?
Jin Qiudi, the business owner: That is to say, the whole economic development of China in recent years has definitely suffered from a loss of environment. This is, and should be.
Reporter: Do you think this river can be restored to its clear state in the past?
Adhering to zero tolerance and strict punishment is one of the measures for river regulation in Jinguang Village. After the incident, the Environmental Protection Bureau re-examined the environmental approval of many small enterprises in Ruian, resolutely banned unlicensed enterprises and rectified enterprises that did not meet environmental standards.
Reporter: But we saw many small shoe processing factories on both sides of the river today. Have they been approved by environmental protection?
Bao Zhenming: Certainly not.
Reporter: Why do you continue to operate there?
Bao Zhenming: We also found that we are now rectifying this kind of enterprises and legal enterprises immediately, and all those that have not been approved will be banned.
Reporter: We saw an enterprise today, which has just opened and is in trial production, but it has not been approved by environmental protection.
Bao Zhenming: We have turned off two. Some enterprises, that is to say, the doors and equipment have not completely cut off its power supply, or they may start work without authorization.
Reporter: Isn’t this kind of law enforcement a mere formality?
Bao Zhenming: So this is what we need to look back on in law enforcement. We can’t say that as soon as the seal is posted today and the law enforcement notice has been delivered, we think that the law enforcement has been terminated. That’s not true. Look back in a week or two, so we are all doing the work next. If it is found again, it will be punished in this field, and then we will apply to the court for enforcement.
However, if the environmental protection department applies to the court for legal procedures to enforce environmental protection, it still faces many difficulties.
Bao Zhenming: Then we decided to inform, file a case, talk and issue a penalty notice. This process. If it is finished, it will take at least half a year.
Reporter: What are the constraints on enterprises in the past six months?
Bao Zhenming: In the past six months, the illegal activities of that enterprise are still here, and some still exist.
Reporter: You can only watch, but there is nothing you can do.
Bao Zhenming: Yes, we are in a hurry. Therefore, the common people are still dissatisfied with the destruction of the environment, so we should change this situation as soon as possible.
Reporter: Can there be a faster way?
Bao Zhenming: Not yet. So we’re still saying the same thing. If there are any more difficulties, I will definitely call you, too.
Reporter: What do you want from us?
Bao Zhenming: I want you to help us appeal to shorten the time of our punishment procedure and implement simple law enforcement as soon as possible.
Although there is helplessness, it is a fact that clear water turns into sewage and the mother river turns into a stinking ditch. We are concerned about when this river can return to the state of swimming and laundry in memory.
Reporter: During the interview, I asked a business owner next to a river. I asked him when we could see a clear river again. He didn’t answer me. Can you answer me?
Bao Zhenming: I believe that everyone hopes to see it in a short time, but I think that after the sewage pipe network is built in 2014, I estimate that in three to five years, the river will definitely improve, and our domestic sewage will not go in. I believe that the river will gradually clear up.
Reporter: Is this a promise?
Bao Zhenming: It can also be regarded as a promise.
Reporter: I hope that according to the time you promised, I can see an environmental protection director like you, who can really swim in that river, instead of being offered a reward and money to invite you.
Bao Zhenming: I look forward to it, too. I want to invite Mr. Gu, more comrades and more citizens to travel together. I think that day will definitely come.
Just as Jin Zengmin released the Weibo, he offered 200,000 yuan to invite the environmental protection director of Ruian City, Wenzhou to swim in the river. On February 19th, the environmental protection director of Cangnan County, Wenzhou City was invited to swim in the river again, and the price soared to 300,000 yuan. Connecting the two events of inviting the environmental protection director to swim in the river once again touched people’s environmental protection nerves. Offering a reward of 200,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan to invite the environmental protection director to swim in the river reflects the people’s anxiety and strong dissatisfaction. However, if we want to eradicate the pollution of the river, I am afraid it is not as simple as asking an environmental protection director to swim in the river. The reason why we are concerned about this incident is not only about this polluted river, but also that we hope to find a way to solve the helplessness and dilemma in environmental protection law enforcement through this incident. Of course, we also hope that the concern of the society can arouse everyone’s reflection.
