Courts hear more pollution cases

Shanghai's courts have sentenced 15 people in six criminal pollution cases this year, Shanghai Higher People's Court announced at a press conference Wednesday.

The number of cases represented a marked increase compared with previous years. From 2010 to 2012, the city's courts heard three pollution cases, in which six people were sentenced, according to the court.

The rise in the number of cases was partially the result of a new judicial interpretation of national environmental laws that took effect on June 19, the Shanghai Higher People's Court said. The interpretation provided practical guidance for the enforcement and prosecution of criminal pollution cases, which have increased with China's rapid industrialization.

"It lowered the threshold for conviction in environmental pollution cases," said Zou Bihua, vice president of Shanghai Higher People's Court. "Prosecutors no longer needed to show harm from an incident of pollution. They only needed to provide evidence that someone committed an act that polluted the environment."

Before the press conference Wednesday, Jinshan District People's Court sentenced six people to prison for causing a chemical spill earlier this year that put 46 residents in the hospital and caused an estimated 4.8 million yuan ($782,026) in damages.

"The local courts were also able to hand down more severe punishments to those who illegally dumped the toxic substances that caused the pollution," Zou said.

From 2010 to 2012, most defendants in environmental pollution cases were sentenced to fewer than 18 months in prison.

In 2013, the court gave longer prison sentences for dumping toxic, radioactive or other hazardous substances, the longest of which was nine years, Zou said.

In that case, the defendant, surnamed Wei, dumped 270 tons of hydrochloric acid and sodium sulfite waste into a creek in Jinshan district from September to October 2012. The incident caused 169,189 yuan in damages, the district court said in January.

Most pollution cases have taken place at Shanghai's outer districts. Typically, the defendants committed the crimes for tiny personal gains.

In Wei's case, he earned 9,000 yuan for dumping the chemicals, despite the high cost to the local environment and the threat to the health of nearby residents, Zou said.