Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Songhua river I wrote a post Green China several months ago around a Christian Science Monitor article on what appeared to be a genuine environmental initiative: A move to assess a large number of energy projects for their environmental impact. This and the various arguments and commentary outlined in the article seemed consistent with the sector transitions of an industrialized society. Some of the ways this manifests itself include greater awareness of the sources of the epidemiological threats to personal and family health. As well a greater awareness of the existence of these threats in the industrialized landscape. A greater per capita wealth and increased availability of work exists that mitigates the need to engage in a previous generation's tradeoffs and compromises. China of this current generation is a significantly more educated and more informed society. What meaning can be ascribed to the serious events surrounding the Benzene spill in the Songhua River Chinese toxic spill official found hanged - Times Online .  To bring it to a focused if oversimplified question: does it represent the greening or the graying of China? Will democratic environmental awareness become a political force in China or will the people continue to be subordinate to industrial progress? Here it matters little if it is done in the name of state enterprise or private enterprise. A brief chronology of events. The Benzene spill occurs 13 Nov 05 after an explosion in a processing tower in Jinin. The spill plume arrives at Harbin about a week later. Word Leaks out on computer message boards, telephone, word-of-mouth, and becomes general knowledge circa 21 Nov 05. At this time there is an absence of official notification from provincial Government. When it becomes clear to officials the Benzene will contaminate the water supply water is shut off in Harbin, capital of Heilingjiang Provence. The Government makes a formal disclosure at this time 23 Nov 05., and responds with water trucks. Amid officious pronouncements that everything was under control, there are calls for investigation of the spill and its aftermath. The senior manager and others at Petrochemical China are removed from their posts. The Chinese 'EPA' head resigns. The director of the state agency of worker safety warns that false information provided in course of investigation will be prosecuted. "Any move trying to cover up the cause of the accident and any passive attitude toward the probe are deemed deception and a defiance of law."-- China warns of Harbin penalties - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune. On 07 December Wang Wei, the Vice Mayor of Jilin was found hanged in his home. (This is the point where I began to save and fully read articles on this). With the toxic plume continuing to spread down river approaching the border with Russia and the point where it will become an international incident Chinese pursue suit as toxic slick reaches Russia, a group of Harbin businessmen form a lawsuit BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Businessmen sue over Chinese leak. The way it seems to be playing out is with considerable openness, adequate if not abundant information, and calls for accountability. On the other hand; is it being allowed to expand without impediment to better facilitate a latter deflation and whitewash? Is the Chinese press covering this as studiously as the foreign press. How transparently is foreign press coverage getting back into China. This quote from the London times article indicates it is being covered "The death of Wang follows the sacking of at least three managers in the China National Petroleum Corporation, which runs the chemical plant. Last week, the head of China's environmental agency also resigned over the accident, which has attracted unusually critical coverage in China's state-owned media." A MetaFilter thread on this last month contained comment from a westerner living in China indicating that information was generally available through informal channels in Harbin 24 hours after the spill. The apparent suicide of the vice mayor of Harbin is an indicator not only that it is being taken seriously, but that it is even a matter of career ending - life ending shame. Which it can be only if environmental damage of this magnitude is already understood to be beyond the realm of acceptable industrialization. One key to possible outcomes from this is in this last event; the lawsuit against Petro-China the state owned company responsible for the original spill. The articles that mention this note its unprecedented nature so much so that the government seems unsure how to respond to it. Allowing this to be (one of) the mechanisms - the process by which settlements are apportioned will certainly chart new territory in Chinese culture if it goes through. A additional toxic spill in southern China also seems to be getting prominent media treatment BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Toxic spill in second China river.At the same time there are reports in todays news that the Chinese government has responded to the recent series of mining disasters with mass firings of upper level managers. This while still a positive move is an example of more comfortable and less forward approaches. The possible roads to justice or redress of wrong are Administrative Law, bureaucratically adjudicated; Criminal Law by statute, and civil law. Only when the latter and due process of the law is followed does any of it exist. 11:29:04 PM    comment [];trackback [];

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 2006 Paul Bushmiller. Last update: 2/1/06; 8:57:42 PM.