The People’s Court of Wuxi issued a notice July 6, officially established the case of China Federation of Environmental Protection Organizations accusing Jiangsu Yingang Containers Co., Ltd for environment pollution.  This symbolizes China’s first case of environmental litigation initiated by environmental nonprofit organizations.

“Having social organizations become a main part in the environmental public interest litigation is a breakthrough to the case” said Jing Hu, a professor from the Law Institute of Environmental Resources at China’s University of Political Science. Right now, our country’s laws don’t specify a procedure regarding public environment litigations. Due to this fact, the hardest, most discussed question is—who is eligible to represent the public interest?

This May,  the China Federation of Environmental Protection Organizationsreceived approximately 80 letters from residents of  the city Jiangyin, reflecting the fact that the defender’s– Jiangsu Jiangyin Containers Co., Ltd.’s– engagement in iron ore handling created large amount of air pollution and noise pollution. Dust from the iron ore created serious impacts on the surrounding air quality and the water quality of the Yangtze River, as well as its surrounding environments.

“In order to understand and collect evidence, a technical personnel and I went to these sites in Jiangyin,” Said Wu, a lawyer who pro bonoed to represent the Federation in the case.

The investigation proved that there were many environmental problems in the area.  Everyday around 5 A.M, the company sends its employers to wash the iron ore dust off the ground and then to directly rinse the water down the drain without any processing, thus allowing the contaminated water to flow into the Yangtze River.

“The cities of Wuxi and Jiangyin receive their water at the downstream of the Yangtze River,” Wu said. The company’s environmental pollution problem doesn’t only affect its nearby residents anymore.
 
Recently, even though the public has become more aware of environmental issues, there are few who solve them by use of the law.

“Existing laws and regulations are not specific regarding environmental litigation requirements,” Wu said. For example, the law does not define who are qualified to represent the public interest in cases regarding the environment.

”Bringing a case to the court requires a lot of professional knowledge, as well as adequate financial support. It is an impossible job for individual citizens”  said Zhongmei Lu, a professor at the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. Environmental organizations, on the other hand, have more financial and intellectual support than individual citizens.

According to Yong Ma, head of the Law Center of the Federation, the Law Center has special legal aid centers with full-time staff who understand the laws and help the public understand them. At the same time, this department has around 80 signing pro bono lawyers, spreading all around the world to aid at any time. In addition, due to the fact the department is in close association with the government’s environmental agencies, it has established a resource of environmental experts. These professionals can provide technical support in the environmental fields. 

According to Yong Ma, it was not the first time that the Federation tried to resort to the court to stop pullution behaviors, but they had not been able to get it through because no court was ready to accept such cases.  The current trend that governments at different levels begin to set up environmental courts helped move the situation forward. Along with such courts being set up, the litigation procedure came to be defined, and environmental social organizations have been identified as an able entity for filing the case.

 (Translated by Alica Zhao. Original abridged from http://www.envch.com/news/2009/7/20090743092207656.html )