In early June 2017, SIP Lvse Jiangnan Public Environment Concerned Centre (hereinafter referred to as “PECC”) received reports of environmental pollution from residents in Taicang City, claiming that there was an open-air domestic waste landfill located in Linjiabang, Taicang City and a large number of “barrels filled with industrial waste” buried in the landfill, which posed a great potential danger to the living environment of local residents.
On June 13th, 2017, PECC’s researchers came to the site for investigation and found that the landfill did not have any anti-seepage treatment facilities, and a large amount of industrial waste and domestic waste were mixed together, and the environment was harsh. There is still a large amount of waste leachate in the landfill, with a bad smell and a shocking scene.
Figure 1: Location map of the open-air landfill
Figure 2: Open-air landfill without any anti-seepage measures
Figure 3: There is a large amount of industrial wastes and foul-smelling leachate on site
According to a local uncle surnamed Yu, about two years ago, one night in July and August, he saw with his own eyes a dozen trucks full of “chemical barrels” arrived here for dumping and burying. He did not know what the barrels are filled with, and didn’t know whether the barrels contain any toxic and harmful substances.
Local residents promptly reported the incident, but eventually it was not resolved. But the resident said he witnessed the process and clearly told PECC that there were a large number of “chemical barrels” buried in this vacant land, and clearly pointed out the location of the landfill. Residents are very worried that this place is like a time bomb, threatening the health of local villagers from time to time.
Figure 4: The buried location of “chemical barrels”
On June 15th, 2017, PECC submitted the “Research Report on the Open-air Landfill in Taicang City” to the environmental protection department.
On June 22nd, 2017, Director Wu Jianguo and Deputy Director Jiang Zhigang of Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau visited PECC and conducted on-site communication and exchanges on the “Research Report on the Open-air Landfill in Taicang City” submitted by PECC.
Figure 5: PECC communicates with Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau
On July 25th, 2017, Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau responded to the research report of PECC, saying that it had cooperated with the Urban Management Bureau to conduct an on-site investigation and strictly supervised the incident.
Figure 6: The reply from Taicang City
On July 27th, 2017, PECC was invited by Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau to participate in the on-site investigation of the simple landfill for construction and decoration wastes.
Figure 7: PECC and Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau went to the site for investigation
After the on-site investigation, PECC and Director Wu Jianguo and Deputy Director Jiang Zhigang of Taicang Environmental Protection Bureau, and Director Qian Yaozhong of Taicang Urban Management Bureau conducted an on-site discussion on the disposal of the construction and decoration wastes in this simple landfill.
This research found that: 2 million yuan has been invested in the rectification of the landfill of construction and decoration wastes. In this area, the simple landfill for construction and decoration wastes has been excavated, and the simple landfill of construction and decoration wastes has been covered with film, and the coverage is now complete. For the problem of leachate from the landfill of construction and decoration wastes, a pumping station with the sewage network for the simple landfill of the construction and decoration wastes was built to take it over to the sewage treatment plant for treatment, which has been put into use.
This project called “Virtuously Cooperate with the Government to Control Environmental Pollution” is a project of Blue Defenders
Thanks to Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) for its financial support. The content and opinions in this article only represent the author’s personal views and have nothing to do with the position or policies of SEE.