The first case of violation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law handled by Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, has put Xinzhou Environmental Protection and Public Security Departments at the forefront of the storm.

According to China News Service, the Air Pollution Inspection Team of the Environmental Safety Brigade of the Xinzhou Public Security Bureau recently discovered three coal-burning fires at the piles and corridors of the construction site of Jinxingyuan Community during a night patrol. It was finally confirmed that the worker Wang Mouwei was heating at night. Because the haze emitted contained high concentrations of harmful substances such as sulfur dioxide, Wang Mouwei was administratively detained for 5 days by the Xinfu District Public Security Bureau.

This news immediately sparked controversy online. Many people questioned whether the detention punishment was "simple and crude" and whether it had legal basis; some netizens "put themselves in the other's shoes" and believed that the police's handling should be realistic and humane, "If the workers had a ready-made way to keep warm, would they still keep warm in this way?"

On November 30, the Xinzhou Public Security Bureau responded to The Paper, saying that the handling decision was "decided in a meeting" by multiple departments.

On December 1, Director Pang of the Xinzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau Office told The Paper that the incineration materials used by Wang Mouwei included plastic bags and tires and other waste items, which would produce polluting gases when burned. He also said that detention was a necessity for the job, and that the other party "did not listen to good words or education" when investigating pollution.

"Now in meetings, environmental quality is reported first, and then GDP is reported"

China News Service reported that recently, the atmospheric pollution inspection team of the Environmental Safety Brigade of the Xinzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau discovered three coal-burning fires at the piles and corridors of the construction site of the Jinxingyuan Community during a night patrol, and workers were working overtime.

The police of the Environmental Safety Brigade and the police of the Xinfu District Public Security Bureau entered the construction site and went down to the pile construction site more than ten meters deep. One group of personnel poured water to extinguish the fire, and another group of personnel learned about the construction site personnel and summoned the relevant personnel to the local police station for questioning in accordance with the law.

It was finally confirmed that Wang Mouwei, a worker at the Jinxingyuan construction site, burned open coal fires outdoors in multiple places to keep warm at night. The smoke and haze emitted contained high concentrations of harmful substances such as sulfur dioxide, which polluted the atmosphere. Wang Mouwei's behavior violated the relevant provisions of the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law" and the "Fire Protection Law", and was decided to be administratively detained for 5 days by the Xinfu District Public Security Bureau.

Some netizens questioned that the degree of pollution caused by migrant workers' fires for heating was limited, and it was difficult to define whether it caused serious air pollution, and there was no legal basis for detention.

Are the illegal circumstances of the parties serious enough to require a five-day detention? The Xinzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau did not elaborate on this with the reporter from The Paper, only saying that this was "decided in a meeting" by multiple departments.

Zhou Ke, professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China and executive director of the China Environmental Resources Law Research Association, told The Paper that from the information disclosed by the existing media, if it is for fire prevention and fire avoidance, "there is no problem"; but from the perspective of relevant laws and regulations on environmental protection, Wang Mouwei's personal behavior "is not enough to deal with administrative detention". He believes that the local publicized statement of "the first case of violation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law" is "irrelevant".

On December 1, Director Pang of the Xinzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau Office said that the incineration materials used by Wang Mouwei included plastic bags and tires and other waste items, which will produce polluting gases. He also said that detention is a work requirement and was decided by superiors because "they don't listen to good words and education" when investigating and dealing with pollution.

Some netizens questioned that law enforcement officers "operated" on vulnerable groups in pursuit of political achievements. Director Pang explained that in the past month, not only migrant workers were detained, but also some people who burned straw illegally. From the county to the village, many cadres have been punished for inadequate environmental protection work, and even officials at the deputy county level have been held accountable, and some have "reviewed" on local TV stations.

He introduced that enterprises in Xinzhou have also paid a price in the work of air pollution control. Some enterprises have been required to rectify, and more enterprises have been included in the list of staggered production. "Now in meetings, environmental quality is reported first, and then GDP."

He also revealed that recently a local company leader may also face detention for failing to meet pollution control standards. The case has not yet been concluded, and relevant information will be released to the public when the time is right.

Director Pang admitted that it is not easy to promote such a large-scale pollution control, including environmental protection staff. He said that when the people's environmental awareness is improved and the environmental quality is improved, there will be fewer complaints.

A series of governance measures, more powerful than last year

Xinzhou is located in the central and northern part of Shanxi Province. Compared with other cities in Shanxi, Xinzhou has better air quality. In the ranking of the comprehensive index of ambient air quality of 11 cities in Shanxi Province from January to June 2017 released by the Shanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Department, Xinzhou ranked fifth; in the ranking in June, Xinzhou ranked third.

Director Pang told The Paper that since the beginning of winter, the air quality in the whole of Shanxi has not been optimistic. Xinzhou recently issued the "Notice on Carrying out Comprehensive Air Pollution Control Inspection Work in the Coal Ban Zone in Xinzhou City" and formed a joint meeting with more than 20 departments including public security, environmental protection, urban construction, and urban management to jointly deal with air pollution.

Public information shows that this special operation will start from November 17 this year and end on March 31, 2018, focusing on the sale, transportation and burning of loose coal, coke, briquette and other coal fuels and their products, open-air barbecues and other open-air fires (including blazing fires), the city government's issuance of heavy pollution weather warnings and the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers from New Year's Eve to the 16th day of the first lunar month, construction site dust and road transportation dust, failure to implement heavy pollution weather response measures and other behaviors that pollute the atmospheric environment.

The reporter of The Paper noted that as early as September 29, 2017, the Xinzhou Municipal Government issued the "Xinzhou City 2017-2018 Autumn and Winter Air Pollution Comprehensive Control Action Plan". The main goal of the plan is that from October 2017 to March 2018, the average concentration of PM2.5 and sulfur dioxide in Xinzhou urban area will decrease by about 35% year-on-year, the number of days with heavy pollution will decrease by about 30% year-on-year, and the hourly concentration of sulfur dioxide will not exceed 800 ¦Ìg/m3.

Director Pang introduced that in order to achieve the goals set by the municipal government, Xinzhou has formulated a series of measures in recent years, including car restrictions, coal replacement, and prohibition of straw burning.

He said that since last year, Xinzhou has implemented odd-even car restrictions, but this year's enforcement is more stringent, "this year, if you are caught, you will be fined 100 yuan."

In addition, Xinzhou has also promoted governance measures such as "coal to gas" and coal replacement. Since local heating mostly uses coal, the ordinary coal currently used by some local households has been replaced with low-ash, low-sulfur high-quality coal, which will help reduce PM2.5 and sulfides produced after combustion. Since the price of this type of coal is relatively high, the government will subsidize part of the cost.

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