An investigation which has been conducted in China has found that businesses in suburban Beijing, as well as surrounding areas are still illegally discharging airborne pollutants in a significant scale. In recent times, the government of Beijing has been making efforts to fight smog.
The inspection was carried out by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and local environmental protection bureaus in Beijing, Hebei and Shanxi provinces, as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in October 2013. Out of 65 companies and factories that were checked, it was found that 21 of them carried out certain activities which are against the law, like excessive emissions of pollutants or poor environmental management.
The results of the inspection were released on November 18, 2013. The inspection found that apart from releasing pollutants, there was also poor environmental management and dust in the region made the pollution even worse and that no dustproof measures were taken at the construction sites, rubbish dumps and coal yards.
Nine of the companies from Hebei which were found guilty have to pay up to 10,000 yuan, but punishments for many of the companies are still pending. The ministry said that people who were in charge of the companies that received penalties have been removed from their posts or fired. In October 2013, the local government closed about 3,000 small, heavy polluting companies which were operating illegally.
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