China targets miners and watchdogs in snap eco compliance audit
- Authorities turned blind eye to environmental violations at Qaidam Basin in Qinghai province, inspectors say
- Two operations falsified production accounts and one used grassland as a waste water site, according to report
Environmental inspectors in China have taken miners and regulators to task over violations at a major reserve of critical minerals in northwestern Qinghai province.
The team found that companies did not adhere to environmental protection guidelines while local governments did not do their job to enforce regulations, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.
“The inspection team believes that relevant departments working at Qaidam prefecture’s salt lake have not paid enough attention to the requirement of high-level development when it comes to managing of natural resources, water conservancy, forestry and grassland in the area and have failed to supervise [the companies that operate there],” Xinhua quoted the inspectors as saying.
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Two subsidiaries of state-owned China National Salt Industry Corporation (CNSG), also known as China Salt, falsified accounts of their production volumes to evade inspectors, Xinhua added.
In addition, one of the units, CNSG Qinghai Kunlun Soda Industry, “unlawfully” used 272 hectares (672 acres) of grassland as its waste water site, threatening nearby national nature reserves, Xinhua reported, citing findings from the inspectors.
