Chinese environment official fired after toxic river spill
Vehicles make their way along a road on a smoggy day in Beijing. Beijing’s government bowed to a vocal online campaign for a change in the way air quality is measured in the Chinese capital, one of the world’s most polluted cities.
An environmental director and six other officials in China have been fired after a toxic spill last month, reported the Associated Press. The executives of eight mining companies have also been detained for their suspected role in the spill, reported China Daily.
Residents of Liuzhou, a city of 3.2 million, noticed dead fish floating in the Longjiang River in January, the result of a toxic cadmium spill. But the Chinese government and local papers still haven't explained how exactly the spill occurred.
More from GlobalPost: Beijing pollution reaches hazardous levels … again
A local Chinese paper said today that the environmental director for the city of Hechi, Wu Haique, was fired for negligence and dereliction of duty, as reported by the Associated Press.
China Daily reported yesterday that river cleanup is expected to last a month. In the meantime, residents have stocked-up on bottled water.
Water resources minister Jiao Yong told the Daily Telegraph in October that up to 40 percent of China's rivers are polluted from industrial waste.
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