Guiyang acts to improve ecology, environment

A planning meeting for ecological and environment work in Guiyang and the adjacent Guian New Area – both located in Southwest China's Guizhou province – was held on June 10, as the push continued to improve conditions in the region.

During the meeting, the Guiyang bureau of ecology and environment – performing its lead role – reviewed the latest situations through reports and mapped out a path of action.

From 2021 to 2025, Guiyang will reportedly undertake a set of major goals, to meet the required environmental standards. These include adjusting the functions of reservoirs, protecting drinking water sources and building a waste-free city.

Other goals include work on improving the quality of the soil, reducing greenhouse gases and air pollutants, as well as safeguarding the local water quality.

To date, the region has reportedly enjoyed stable development in these areas.

Since April, a series of symposiums on the environment helped pave the way for continued efforts by government departments and resulted in the rolling out of various directives and concrete measures.

In addition, six projects for the comprehensive use of phosphogypsum resources kicked off. In order to minimize the environmental risks caused by the buildup of phosphogypsum – the calcium sulfate hydrate formed as a by-product of the production of fertilizer from phosphate rock – the authorities are developing alternate uses for it.

The region has already achieved good results, especially in the development and production of phosphogypsum building materials.

Elsewhere, on-site supervision of the soil surrounding the operations of key Guiyang manufacturers – as well as underground bodies of water – has been carried out rigorously. Guiyang has also strengthened its investigation and cleaning up of centralized drinking water sources.

Taking the current conditions of Guiyang's ecosystem into account, the bureau is applying for certain administrative licenses and the power to impose penalties from the city's municipal government.

Moving forwards, plans are for the bureau to implement the laws and regulations to achieve the goals and to explore other effective mechanisms to resolve problems occurring in the environment.