On the morning of May 6, when the Central Environmental Supervision Group notified a typical case, it pointed out that the treatment of lotus pond water pollution in the suburbs of Tongling City was perfunctory, resulting in part of the excessive sewage discharged into the Yangtze River. The suburban party committees, governments and relevant departments spent a lot of money on coping with inspections. Mind, fabricate materials, deal with inspectors.
The lotus pond is located in the outskirts of Tongling City, about 1 km away from the mainstream of the Yangtze River. It covers an area of 120,000 square meters and has a capacity of about 300,000 cubic meters. The daily inflow is mainly rainwater from the surrounding areas. In recent years, the water quality has maintained Class IV to V.
The lotus pond water body is connected to the Yangtze River and is discharged into the Yangtze River through the Taohe Gate of Desheng Wharf. The Taohe Gate is open daily and closed when the water level of the Yangtze River is high to prevent the river from inverting.
On October 20, 2020, the water quality of the lotus pond suddenly turned black and smelled. The suburban government of Tongling City began to intercept and control pollution in late October. However, relevant emergency measures were not in place, and the follow-up work was not promoted effectively, and a large amount of sewage overflowed. Drain into the Yangtze River through the Taohe Gate.
In April 2021, when the third central ecological and environmental protection inspection team inspected the sinking of Tongling City, Anhui Province, it was discovered that after the water quality of the lotus pond was abnormal, the suburban government held a meeting to organize the closure of the culvert outside the lotus pond, requesting " Ensure that sewage does not flow out".
In January 2021, the suburban government convened three more meetings to deploy the lotus pond water pollution control work, requesting "not let a drop of sewage flow into the Yangtze River".
During this period, the main responsible comrades of the district party committee and district government have also visited the lotus pond several times.
However, the inspector found that the relevant requirements and deployment mostly stayed on slogans and documents, which were not implemented.
As of the inspector’s arrival, no one from the local government or relevant departments has visited the Taohe sluice to check the true situation of the sewage discharged into the river; the district party committee, the responsible comrades of the district government and the person in charge of the relevant departments introduced that since the interception measures were taken in October 2020 , The problem of sewage from the lotus pond being discharged into the Yangtze River has never occurred.
But the actual situation is that from January to March 2021, the three unannounced inspections conducted by the inspection team in the early stage of the drainage revealed that a large amount of sewage from the lotus pond overflowed into the river, forming an obvious pollution zone on the surface of the river.
The inspector pointed out that the party committee, government and relevant departments in the suburbs of Tongling City did not organize a comprehensive analysis of the abnormal water quality of the lotus pond, nor did they conduct a comprehensive traceability investigation of the surrounding sewage discharge. Instead, they acquiesced to the relevant units to spray flocculants in a large area of the lotus pond. And sodium hypochlorite for "spreading medicine to control pollution".
After more than two months, the suburban government and relevant departments did not monitor the progress of the governance. It was not until January 2021 that the grid staff reported that the water quality of the lotus pond had deteriorated, and then the monitoring was carried out again. The monitoring data showed chemical oxygen demand. The amount concentration is 252-275 mg/L and the ammonia nitrogen concentration is 12.9-15.7 mg/L, which are respectively 11.6-12.8 times and 11.9-14.7 times higher than the surface water class III standard, and the pollution level is further aggravated.
As the water quality of the lotus pond continued to deteriorate, the local area urgently built a sewage treatment facility at the end of February 2021. However, as of the arrival of the inspectors, hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of sewage still accumulated in the lotus pond, and the water environment safety hazard has not yet been eliminated.
The inspectors also found that the suburban party committees, governments and relevant departments were perfunctory in dealing with pollution interception and pollution control, but they were bothered to deal with inspectors.
After “spilling medicine to control pollution”, the suburban government and relevant departments believe that “preliminary work on water treatment has been completed.” Therefore, in the key work schedule for December 2020 published on the suburban government website, the lotus pond pollution control work is not included. .
However, in the paper material on the key work arrangements for December provided to the inspection team, the content of "continue to do a good job in environmental supervision of lotus ponds" was temporarily added.
The inspector believes that the party committee and government in the suburbs of Tongling City did not pay enough attention to the protection and restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River. When dealing with the environmental pollution problem of the lotus pond, they adjusted their doors high, implemented poorly, and even made superficial comments, perfunctory response, and the work was lax and unrealistic, and they did not effectively solve the problem of exceeding the standard. The discharge of sewage into the Yangtze River has a negative impact on the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.
Diao Fanchao