Polluter fined in landmark lawsuit

A company providing painting and welding services in Beijing has been fined 890,000 yuan ($138,900) and ordered to publicly apologize for causing air pollution.

Duocai Lianyi Co has also been banned from carrying out painting and welding work until it meets environmental protection standards or proves it has taken effective measures toward that goal, the capital’s No 4 Intermediate People’s Court said in its verdict.

In addition, the company must also pay 33,000 yuan for an environmental impact assessment, it said.

The court heard the case on May 8 and released its verdict on Tuesday, which was World Environment Day.

During the trial, the company, based in Beijing’s Daxing district, was accused of polluting the air and failing to install devices to reduce emissions in accordance with regulations.

The court said the case marks the first public-interest lawsuit regarding air quality initiated by prosecutors in Beijing.

After revisions to the Civil Procedure Law last year, prosecutors can now sue individuals or enterprises that harm the public good, such as by polluting the environment or endangering food safety.

According to the Administrative Procedure Law, which was also revised last year, they are also allowed to file lawsuits against government entities, allowing them to play a supervisory role in ensuring the authorities enforce the law.

Ma Jun, the judge in the Duocai case, said the judgment is a landmark verdict for Beijing “because it shows the prosecution has played its role in protecting the public interest as well as reflects our court’s efforts in handling such litigation”.

Since the two laws were revised, the court has heard four public-interest lawsuits brought by prosecutors — three related to the environment and one related to food and drug safety — the court’s president, Sun Li, said.

Sun said the biggest difficulty in hearing such lawsuits is how to identify ecological damage, as the determination process is complicated.

It shows the prosecution has played its role in protecting the public interest.” Ma Jun,