China gave its first criminal sentences for waste dumping recently. Three individuals who were caught dumping hundreds of tons of rubbish at sea in the south province of Guangdong were sentenced to imprisonment of three to four years and also given fines.
On Aug 25, 2016, the Guangdong Coast Guard got a clue that the modified cargo ship "Guitengxianhuo 1088" was going to dump household garbage that night to the waters around the Gaolan Port in Zhuhai City. When the officers rushed to the site, the suspects had already discharged 563.99 of the 659 tons of garbage from the ship.
Investigation reveals that the driver surnamed Li was instructed by Cui to get the ship loaded with the waste the previous night in Dongguan City and then dump it at sea in midnight in Zhuhai.
"Cui asked me to drive the ship to dump the waste by the Wai Lingding Island, not during the day, but at night. He assured me of safety," Li recalled.
A special investigation group was set up to collect clues in multiple places and have the samples of the waste examined. It was found out the solid waste contains toxic substances including mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium. And the liquids from the waste have a chemical oxygen demand 411.5 times of the standard as well as sulfides and ammonia and nitrogen respectively 37.3 and 39 times of the standard.
"The examination shows that the waste is highly toxic, constituting criminal offense of environmental pollution. So we initiated criminal prosecution," said officer Tu from the First Detachment of the Guangdong Coast Guard.
According to clues gained in the waste-dumping case, the police also busted a garbage-burning ring in January 2017 in Dongguan City and seized eight suspects.
Sources:cctvplus
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