China Warns 3 Gorges Operators After Rules Flouted

[hatrack]

BEIJING - "China�fs environmental watchdog, flexing its limited muscles to try to clean up industry, may take the operators of the Three Gorges Dam, the world�fs largest hydroelectric project, to court, state media said on Tuesday.

The State Environmental Protection Administration has told the state-owned Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp. it must heed an order to halt construction at three new projects or face fines and legal penalties. The warning was sent after initial administration calls for work at the sites to stop were ignored, the Beijing News said.

In mid-January, SEPA ordered the suspension of construction at 30 major infrastructure projects around China, most of them in the power sector, because they had flouted a law requiring environmental impact assessments before work began. �gEight projects, including Three Gorges Corp�fs Xiluodu station on the upper Yangtze River, the underground power station at the Three Gorges Dam and the Three Gorges project power supply station, have not followed the orders,�h the Beijing News said.

But the environmental watchdog may have more bark than bite in the matter, an environmental law expert said. �gSEPA can apply for a court order, but because the case would be handled by a local court, it would be very difficult for such an order to be issued,�h Wang Canfa, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, was quoted as saying. Historically, the central government has struggled to implement policies, especially those concerning the environment, at the local level."

EDIT

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6843459/

[illflem]

1. Yet they say nothing of the dumping of nuclear waste

in Tibet.