Authorities in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, are to invest millions of
yuan in the cleaning of a notoriously dirty factory, a project
which they hope will set a new standard for redevelopment of
brownfield sites.
Shenyang Smelting Factory (SSF) was built in 1936, and grew into
one of the largest factories in the region.
It became one of the biggest polluters in the city forcing the
central government to shut it down in 1999, the first time a
large-scale State-owned enterprise was closed down due to
environmental concerns.
With the massive site lying derelict, local authorities are
planning to hand it over to developers, but first they must tackle
the problems of badly polluted soil and contaminated underground
water.
"We expect this land will be available for redevelopment after
our work," Suo Lizhen, director of the ecology department of
Shenyang Environmental Protection Bureau, told China
Daily.
In the first one and a half months of the project, polluted soil
will be dug up and moved to a toxic waste treatment site. Severely
polluted soil will be securely buried, while the rest will be
treated and cleaned.
As for the underground water, workers will drill a well inside
the plant and pump contaminated water up for further treatment.
Source close to the government disclosed that the whole
project's budget is around 50 million yuan (US$6.25 million). The
local government will contribute 26 million yuan (US$3.25 million),
with the rest coming from the developer.
Shenyang, an industrial hub that has suffered from the decline
of the country's State-owned enterprises, is at the forefront of
efforts to regenerate brownfield sites.
However, due to a lack of regulations neither local governments
nor property developers have to carry out environmental assessment
or cleaning before construction.
"This is about mechanism. We can do nothing without local
government investment," said Suo. She admitted that SSF remained
untouched for years after its closure.
"Our efforts to clean up the plant have a more important
meaning. We can provide experience for other cities to deal with
this problem, for example the redevelopment of Shougang Group's
plant in Beijing," she added.
(China Daily July 11, 2006)