Lanzhou pollution fine for CNPC subsidiary as Fujian paraxylene plant fire releases harmful chemicals
Fire breaks out at Lanzhou Petrochemicals Image: Caixin |
A subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp has been fined 100m yuan ($16m) by the local government for a series of incidents that released pollutants into the air and water in Gansu province.
In 2010, a blast at Lanzhou Petrochemicals' 200,000 barrels-per-day refinery resulted in wide-spread damage, while a separate fire in 2014 resulted in a serious gas leak.
The province's Environmental Protection Bureau released an environmental impact study that found the subsidiary responsible for leaking benzene into the Lanzhou section of the yellow river - the only source of drinking water for the local population. The bureau will use the money to upgrade drainage at the CNPC plant to prevent any further leaks.
Top level talks between CNPC, the Lanzhou local government and the National Development and Reform Commission to relocate the plant have been underway for some time, however at an estimated cost of 60bn yuan ($9.2bn) the move is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Meanwhile, an explosion at a chemical paraxylene plant in Fujian, southwest China, is also thought to have released chemicals into the local atmosphere. The tremor from the explosion was felt as far as 50km away and the windows at a petrol station 1km away were blown out.
The fire at the plant, owned by independent producer Dragon Aromatics, took 177 fire engines and more than 800 firefighters to extinguish.