Chinese City Asks Public's Input on Proposed Factory
Unusual Request, Accompanying Report on Environmental Impact of Chemical Plant, Follows Large Protests
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 7, 2007;
Page A33
BEIJING, Dec. 6 -- With a rare invitation for public comment, the picturesque seaside city of Xiamen
has released an environmental impact report for a planned chemical
plant that has sparked passionate opposition and large-scale protests.
The report, posted online Wednesday, had generated more than 1,500
comments by Thursday on the official Web site for Xiamen, a city in the
southeastern province of Fujian where demonstrations against the
project drew national attention in June.
More than 10,000 people, and as many as 20,000, participated in mostly
peaceful protests coordinated via cellphone and the Internet,
compelling Communist Party bureaucrats to take a rare second look at
their plans.
"I don't want to hand in my taxes to those who can't guarantee our health," one person wrote online.
"If the project is going to be built, I strongly suggest that the
local standing committee put their offices next to this industrial
district," another commented, referring to the Communist Party. "It
would not only ease the worries of the public, but also ensure the
future protection of Haicang," the island where the project is planned
across a narrow strait from downtown.
The 300-acre, $1.4 billion factory is the pet project of the Xiamen
Communist Party boss and would nearly double the city's gross domestic
product to $26 billion, officials said.
But the factory would make paraxylene, a chemical used in plastics and
other synthetic products that over time can cause health problems.
Residents, including a chemistry professor who is a member of the
state-run
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
are worried about leaks, explosions and other potential accidents at
the factory, which would be separated from a residential district by a
330-yard-wide, landscaped barrier.
The environmental impact report, prepared by a subsidiary research
institute of the State Environmental Protection Administration and a
Xiamen urban design environment evaluation team, agreed there is cause
for concern.
Putting residential and industrial districts side by side is improper, the report said.
"The 300-meter-wide segregation area is not enough to separate air
pollutants. . . . It's inevitable that the residential area will be
affected by the industrial district," a 14-page summary of the report
says. "The problems show that flaws exist in urban planning, mainly due
to the lack of a comprehensive understanding of negative environmental
impacts."
But the report says that the risk is acceptable and that any pollution
problems would be minor, handing the decision on whether to proceed
back to government officials.
"If there is not yet a large-scale residential area, the
environmental effect of developing chemical industry in the south of
the Haicang district is acceptable," it says.
Li Yi Qiang, a Xiamen resident and environmentalist who was detained
for 55 days for participating in the protests, said, "The government
may be using this report to test the reaction of the public so that
they can decide what to do next."
Li said he hoped that public hearings would follow and predicted
that a vocal opposition would be heard. "I think it will be effective.
The will of the people can't be violated. Since the government promised
that they won't do what ordinary citizens oppose, they have to keep
their word."
The public was given 10 days, from Wednesday, to submit opinions. Some
reactions are already appearing on popular local online forums such as
Xiamen Xiaoyu, which was temporarily shut down in May for hosting
heated discussion about the factory.
"I've read the report three times, but I still have many questions,"
said a participant on Xiamen Xiaoyu, who then listed 10 questions. For
example, the writer said, the report says peak concentrations of acetic
acid would be lower than the standard of the former Soviet Union.
"But why cite the Soviet Union as a standard? Isn't there any other
standard from developed countries that we can refer to? Or are the
standards of other countries too strict?"
But another writer urged people to consider the financial benefits.
"Comparing Xiamen with other coastal cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen,
its development is relatively backward. Don't say that economic
development is just for the benefit of officials, it will benefit every
person in Xiamen."
Researcher Li Jie contributed to this report.