County officials sacked for river pollution

The Party secretary, environmental protection chief and a leading official in charge of water resources in Quanjiao county, Anhui province, have been removed from their positions for river pollution that sparked widespread criticism.

After a recent fire at a petroleum additive company in the county, polluted water flowed into the Chuhe river, a joint investigation team said in a statement issued on Wednesday morning.

The Chuhe is a tributary of the Yangtze River.

The team was formed by the provincial government and the provincial discipline inspection and supervision authorities, Anhui Daily reported.

The pollution led to mass fish deaths in the section of the river passing through the city of Chuzhou and in its lower reaches in Nanjing, the capital of neighboring Jiangsu province, media outlets reported.

Dou Ping, who was director of the county's ecology and environment bureau, told China Central Television the bureau had not checked the toxicity of the water used in fighting the fire that had leaked into the river after the fire was put out "because there was no need to do so".

"People can be killed after drinking too much Moutai (liquor). If somebody dies from drinking Moutai, should anybody test the toxicity of the alcohol?" Dou said in the interview, which was broadcast on Monday.

Yang Jun, a senior official with the county's water resources bureau, told CCTV he was not too concerned about the incident as he was due to retire in two months.

Videos of the comments by Dou and Yang have gone viral online since Tuesday.

Both Dou and Yang have been removed from their posts, the county government said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The investigation team's statement said the county's Party secretary, Yang Guang, had also been removed from the position and probes targeting other personnel were underway.

The provincial authorities organized a conference on handling the incident on Tuesday afternoon, which was attended by top officials including the province's Party secretary and governor.

It called for quick and scientific handling of pollution remediation and the punishment of officials who were at fault according to related regulations and laws.

In November, the provincial governments of Anhui and Jiangsu signed an agreement on a cross-region mechanism for the protection of the Yangtze River basin's aquatic environment.

Under the agreement, the water that flows from Anhui to Jiangsu is subject to periodic assessments. If the quality reaches agreed standards, Jiangsu compensates Anhui for expenses incurred to protect the environment. Otherwise, Jiangsu is compensated to subsidize its additional costs in treating polluted water.