(File photo)
The first public litigation case on the high-profile campus pollution caused by synthetic running tracks has been settled through mediation, which concluded in a decision for the kindergarten to remove its controversial track.
According to the Beijing High People's Court, the defendant, Beijing Liu Shikun Wanxiang Xintian Kindergarten, also agreed to donate 100,000 RMB to the China Social Assistance Foundation for environmental protection. The mediation was approved by both sides on Feb. 24, and the court announcement was made on April 11.
The plaintiff, Beijing-based non-governmental organization China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), filed the lawsuit in June 2016, after receiving multiple reports about children getting sick at the school since March of that year. The kindergarten had refused to remove the synthetic running tracks suspected of causing the illnesses despite mounting evidence.
Last year, it was widely reported that students at a number of primary schools and kindergartens around Beijing were developing symptoms including rashes, fever and nosebleeds after contact with synthetic tracks on playgrounds.
Wang Wenyong, director of the NGO's legal department, told Thepaper.cn that CBCGDF is satisfied with the result of this suit, and the defendant has finally shown sincerity in solving the problem. The case is expected to serve as a legal precedent for related public litigation cases in the future.
Beijing Liu Shikun Wanxiang Xintian Kindergarten has agreed to replace its track with grass, to help compensate for pollution inflicted by the track on the surrounding soil and air. According to the court, the replacement process is already underway.
However, Wang warned that many synthetic running tracks are still in use, even after similar pollution complaints broke out in several cities around China.
"There is still a long way to go before the issue of poisonous tracks is fundamentally solved," he said.
