On December 23, at the Pinghu Branch of the Jiaxing Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, the Jiaxing Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau signed a compensation agreement with a Pinghu printing and dyeing Co., Ltd. and a Shandong Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. According to the agreement, the printing and dyeing company and the environmental technology company must pay 248,592 yuan in compensation to the financial account in the form of monetary compensation.
We were fined more than 200,000 yuan in compensation, but the person in charge of the printing and dyeing company thanked him repeatedly, saying, “Thank you to the Pinghu City Procuratorate for giving us the opportunity to resume production and not letting the company collapse. “What exactly is this fuss about?”
It turns out that in October this year, the Pinghu City Procuratorate accepted an environmental pollution crime case. Because the chemical oxygen demand at the sewage outlet exceeded the standard, a printing and dyeing company in Pinghu conspired with its sewage treatment client, an environmental technology company in Shandong, to set up private hidden pipes and pump water from the river to the air flotation tank of the sewage station to dilute the discharge. Sewage, reduce chemical oxygen demand monitoring indicator data in sewage. By artificially tampering with automatic monitoring data, the purpose of evading supervision of water pollution is achieved.
The environment has a price and we must bear responsibility for the damage. According to Mao Zhongyi, director of the Fifth Prosecution Department of the Pinghu Municipal Procuratorate, according to relevant laws, the actions of the two companies have caused damage to the ecological environment, are suspected of crimes, and have infringed upon social and public interests. In accordance with past practice, for illegal and criminal acts that damage the ecological environment, the procuratorate will focus on pursuing criminal liability of the offenders. But when it came to requesting approval for the arrest, the prosecutor’s office learned that the company was remorseful. Although the company has been suspended for rectification and operation difficulties due to environmental pollution, the relevant person in charge of the company has repeatedly stated that they are willing to do their best to compensate for the environmental damage caused.
Penalty is only a means, not an end. Mao Zhongyi said that in order to protect the development of the private economy and repair the environment in a timely manner, the procuratorate made a decision not to approve the arrest of the relevant responsible persons, and in accordance with the procuratorial organ’s public interest litigation responsibilities, issued procuratorial suggestions to the Pinghu Branch of the Jiaxing Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, recommending that an ecological Environmental damage compensation consultation and other related work.
The so-called ecological environment damage compensation consultation is a compensation mechanism launched by the central, provincial and municipal levels in recent years for ecological environment damage incidents. According to regulations, when handling cases of environmental pollution crimes, the environmental protection administrative agency as the holder of the right to compensation should immediately initiate an investigation of ecological environmental damage, and the procuratorial agency is responsible for supervising and supporting the administrative agency and the compensation obligor to conduct compensation negotiations.
Different from claiming ecological environment damage compensation through judicial procedures, the ecological environment damage compensation consultation mechanism involves the administrative agency as the right holder of compensation initiating consultation procedures, conducting investigations, appraisals, and determinations. Without going through litigation, judgment, enforcement and other procedures, face-to-face consultations can be conducted with the compensation obligor on the restoration and compensation of ecological and environmental damage.
“The cycle is shorter, more efficient, and more conducive to promoting the restoration of the damaged ecological environment.” Mao Zhongyi said that this case is the first time it has been used in Pinghu. In just a few months, the company was able to make rectifications and reach an agreement on compensation for ecological and environmental damage. Next, the procuratorate will urge the implementation of fines to ensure that they are used for the overall restoration of the local ecological environment in Pinghu.
The case is settled and the company is alive. Chen Moumou, the person in charge of the printing and dyeing company, said that after the case, the company invested more than 1.7 million yuan to comprehensively improve the sewage treatment system, and COD (chemical oxygen demand) emissions dropped from the original 344 mg/L to 150 mg/L. The following is far better than the standard requirements. “Through compensation negotiations, the seized companies have returned to production. Employees do not have to face layoffs, and companies do not have to face bankruptcy.”</p
