4 jailed for illegal waste dumping

FOUR people have been jailed for illegally dumping nearly 820,000 tons of construction waste, causing severe harm to the environment, according to Shanghai No.3 Intermediate People’s Court.

In 2015, a local cleaning services company, the name of which was not revealed, was contracted by a construction firm to deal with debris at its work sites. Under the contract, the cleaning company would transport the waste to a licensed dump site in the Lingang area of the Pudong New Area, where it would be buried with environmental-friendly soil.

However, the company’s legal representative, surnamed Fang, and vice manager, surnamed Wan, asked their driver, surnamed Chen, and another employee, surnamed Du, to simply dump the waste at the site.

Between October 2015 and May 2016, more than 20,000 truck-loads of construction waste were taken to the site. Exposed to the elements, the waste produced toxins as it decomposed.

Excessive levels of toxins were uncovered in nearby soil and water. Cleaning the contaminated area cost more than 25 million yuan (US$3.9 million), according to the court.

Fang and Chen were apprehended in August 2017. Later, Wan and Du handed themselves over to police.

The four received sentences of three-and-a-half to fourand-a-half years.