County watchdog fired after illegal discharges exposed

The head of a county environmental watchdog in Hunan province has been removed from office after a media report that a pharmaceutical company in the county had discharged untreated wastewater into a major branch of the Yangtze River.

Cao Tiexiang, Party secretary and director of the Zhuzhou environmental protection bureau, was fired after China National Radio reported on Monday that a Hunan Sonbon Forestry Science and Technology Co factory had been discharging its industrial wastewater into the Xiangjiang River.

The factory is about 500 meters from the river. Residents had reported the illegal discharges to authorities through various channels, but the discharges continued for months, according to the report.