Trash incinerator plans on hold after public outcry in southern China

Incinerator plans on hold after protests in China

GUANGZHOU, China — Hundreds of residents protested Monday against the planned construction of a trash incinerator in the southern boomtown city of Guangzhou, a news report said.

About 400 protesters gathered outside the city’s main government headquarters as hundreds of police surrounded the crowd and roped off the streets, blocking people from joining the demonstration.

The government has temporarily halted the project, expected to replace two overflowing landfills that are struggling to meet the area’s nearly 1,700 tons of daily trash, until environment assessments are approved, the China Daily newspaper said Monday.

Nearby residents have responded negatively to news of the incinerator, with 92 percent saying in a public poll that they believe it would be harmful to their health, the report said.

One protester, a woman who gave only her surname Zhang, said, “This incinerator will definitely be bad for our health. The government keeps saying it will be safe but we think they are hiding the facts.”

Other residents complained that the construction of the incinerator would hurt their property values.

Another woman, who gave only her surname Li, said she was a teacher and had spent years to buy her home, only to see the government propose the incinerator.

“Just after I bought my home they announced they are going to build this incinerator. Now if I try to sell it I will lose a lot of money,” Li said.

Chinese who are interviewed by the media routinely refuse to give their full names out of fear of government reprisals.

Protesters could be seen holding white signs saying “Oppose the incinerator.” Some wore surgical masks over their faces, while others were dressed in T-shirts with anti-incinerator slogans. Others passed out bumper stickers urging people to join their cause.

Protests in China because of environmental issues have increased in recent years as living standards improve.

Chinese government studies show that local regulations still allow incinerators to emit 10 times the level of dioxins permitted at comparable plants in the U.S., releasing cancer-causing dioxins and other poisons.

Residents in central Beijing swarmed the offices of the Ministry of Environment last year, protesting the stench from a landfill and plans for a new incinerator there. In July, officials scrapped the incinerator plan and closed the landfill four years early.