An Inevitable Flashpoint.docx

An Inevitable Flashpoint.docx

《An Inevitable Flashpoint.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《An Inevitable Flashpoint.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

AnInevitableFlashpoint

AnInevitableFlashpoint

　　OntheafternoonofApril7，2015asmembersfromenvironmentalNGOGreenHomeofFujian（GHF）arrivedontheGuleipeninsula，theruinedhuskofalocalchemicalplant，thesceneofamassiveexplosiononthepreviousday，wasstillaflame.Althoughthemajorityoflocalresidentshadalreadybeenevacuatedtoadesignatedsafezone20kilometersaway，somestillremainedintheirhomes，unwillingtoleavedespitethedanger.

　　“Theairwasheavywiththesmellofrotteneggs，”GHF’s？

Director-generalHongZhitoldNewsChina.“Weworemasks，butstillfeltdizzyandnauseous.”Hongwasamongagroupofrepresentativesofthislocaladvocacygroupwhovisitedthesceneoftheaccident.Tohersurprise，localsinformedherthatthey’dgottenusedtothestenchreleasedfromtheplant，which，sincebeginningoperationsin2013，hadproducedthechemicalparaxylene（PX），aflammablechemicalusedinpolyesterandplasticsmanufacturing.

　　Explosion

　　Accordingtolocalmediareports，anoildepotattheTaiwanese-ownedDragonAromatics（DA）chemicalplant，locatedinZhangzhou，FujianProvince，explodedat7PMonApril6.Threestoragetankswithtotalcapacityof12，000cubicmeterscaughtfireaftertheexplosion.

　　Witnessestoldlocalmediathattremorsfromtheexplosionwerefeltupto50kilometersaway，andthathugeflamesandagiantplumeofsmokeshotintothenightsky.Homesandbusinessesnearesttheplanthadtheirwindowsblownout，andsomevillagershadtoescapefromtheblazebyboat.

　　Evenafterfirefightersextinguishedthefiresthatengulfedthreeofthetanks，onecontinuallyreignited，whilethefacility’sfourthtankalsoburstintoflamedaysaftertheexplosion.ItwasnotuntilthemorningofApril9thatthefirewascompletelyextinguished.

　　Zhangzhou’sdeputymayorZhangYitengtoldreportersthatonepersonwasinjuredattheblastsiteandfivemorehurtbybrokenglass.AlthoughsomelocalnetizensusedmicroblogserviceWeibotoexpressdoubtsaboutofficialcasualtyfigures，Statemediareportedthatatotalof14peoplewerehospitalized，withnofatalities.Asthefirecontinuedtorage，however，governmentrescueworkershadevacuatedsome30，000localresidentsbyApril9.

　　WangWensheng，headoftheFujianprovincialfireservicetoldNewsChinathat322fireenginesand1，417firefightersweredeployedtocombattheblaze.“AsfarasIknow，thismightpossiblybetheworstchemicalfactoryexplosioninFujian’s，orevenChina’s，history，”WangtoldNewsChinaonApril12，addingthattheseriousnessoftheaccidentwasduetotheplacementdensityofoilstoragetanks，theuseofdiversifiedoilproducts，thelargescaleofthefireandstrongwinds.Wangalsostatedthatthematerialswithinthetanksunderwentchangesofstatecausedbytheextremetemperatures，whichfurtherfedtheblaze.　　“Inaworst-casescenario，thechaineffectsoftheexplosioncoulddestroynotonlythefactorybutthewholepeninsula，”hesaid.

　　Localauthoritiesclaimedthattherewerenoleaksfromtheplant’sthreechemicaltanksandnosignsofenvironmentalcontaminationfollowingtheblast.However，localmediareportedthatafishfarmersurnamedHuangfromDaizaivillageontheGuleipeninsulafoundthatlargenumberofhisfarmedseahorseshaddiedduringthenightoftheexplosion.InDongshan，somefivekilometersawayfromGuleiacrossanarrowstraitanddownwindfromthePXplant，localsreportedthatrainwaterhadturnedblack.

　　BothStatemediaandtheZhangzhougov-ernmenthavebeenatpainstoplaydowntheaccident.Zhang，a31-year-oldZhangzhoucityresident，toldNewsChinainmid-AprilthatlocalmediaoutletsincludingtheMinnanDailyranonlyasmatteringofreportsonthedisaster.

　　Accident

　　TheZhangzhouexplosionwasthesecondtohittheGuleiPXplant，whichbrokegroundin2008，in20months.OnJuly30，2013，localmediareportedaminorexplosionatthefactorywhenapipelinefilledwithhydrogencracked，causingthegastoignite.Atthetimetherewerenoreportedcausalitiesortoxicleaks.

　　Asin2013，themostrecentexplosionattheplantwasdescribedasaproductionsafetyaccidentbyofficialinspectors.OneDAengineertoldtheBeijingNewsthatthecauseofthefirewasacrackinaboilerpipelinewhichcausedanoilleakthatlaterignitedintoablazethatquicklyspreadtotwonearbyrunofftanks.Theengineer，speakinganonymously，addedthatoilpipelinesgraduallycorrodeovertimeifnotproperlymaintained，increasingthepossibilityofanexplosion.

　　Theattributionoftheexplosiontonegligenceinfuriatedlocalresidentsandledtoapublicoutcry.China’sStateCouncilquicklysteppedintoexpressconcernandurgethelocalauthoritiestolaunchanimmediateinvestigationintothecauseoftheaccident，andchastisethoseresponsible.AccordingtoYangDongliang，directoroftheStateAdministrationof？

Work？

Safety，theDragonAromaticsplantexplosionwasa“typicalcase”ofunqualifiedprojectapproval，insufficientinvestmentinsafetycontrols，andalackofsafetysupervision.“The[DA]incidentshouldteachusaseriouslessonandwillsurelyhaverepercussions，”YangcommentedduringaconferenceheldinBeijingonApril14.　　Cao？

Xianghong，？

academician？

withtheChinese？

Academy？

ofSciences，toldScienceNthatindustrialaccidentsareusuallycausedeitherbyshoddyhardwareorhumanerror.JiangShichengfromtheChinese？

Academy？

of？

EngineeringsharedCao’sopinion，addingthatPXwasamid-leveloilprocessor，and，withsoundsafetycontrolsandstrictmanagement，shouldhavebeenimmunetosuchaccidents，leadinghimtoconcludethat“theremightbeaproblemwithitssafetymanagement.”

　　WeiFei，professor？

ofchemicalengineeringatTsinghuaUniversity，toldCaixinWeeklythat，foragrandprojectworthtensofbil-lionsofdollarsliketheDAplant，architectsandengineersshouldhavemadecontingencyplansforavarietyofemergencyscenarios.“Whyisapotentialsourceofignitionlocatedclosetoanareawithnomeasuresdesignedtopreventoilspills？

”Weiasked，ultimatelyconcludingthatlightning，staticdischargeorevenhumanactivitycouldhaveproducedthefatalspark.“Bigaccidentslikethisonearetheresultofachainreaction，”Weicontinued.“Generallyspeaking，ifregulationsarefollowed，thereshouldnotbeanysafetyissues.”

　　Atpresstime，however，theZhangzhougovernment，thecity’sAdministrationofWorkSafety，thelocalEnvironmentalProtectionBureauandtheGuleiManagementCommitteehaveallrefusedtorespondtoNewsChina’senquiriesaboutthedisaster.

　　Propaganda

　　InitialinvestmentintheDAprojectamountedto13.78billionyuan（US$2.24bn）.Theplantwasdesignedtoproduce800，000tonsofPXannually，butatthetimeofthedisasterhadalreadyuppedannualoutputto1.6milliontons.OfmajorinteresttothelocalauthoritieswasthepotentialimpactofthisenterpriseonlocalGDP，towhichtheplantwaspredictedtocontributesome80billionyuan（US$12.9bn）ineachyearofoperations.

　　TheplantwasinitiallyslatedtobebuiltinthecoastalresortcityofXiamen，alsoinFujianProvince.However，environmentalactivistsusedtextmessagestodisseminateinformationaboutthepotentialimpactofaPXchemicalplantonpublichealthinthiscityofseveralmillionresidents，provokingvehementandcoordinatedopposition.Inmid-2007，tensofthousandsofprotesterstooktoXiamen’sstreetswithbannerscallingforahalttotheproject.ZhaoYufen，aprofessoratXiamenUniversity，launchedapetitiontostoptheprojectthatwasultimatelypresentedtotheChinesePeople’sPoliticalConsultativeConference（CPPCC），topadvisorybodytoChina’slegislature.　　Thecampaignmadeheadlinesnationwide，andundermountingpressurefromboththeChinesepublicandtheinternationalmedia，thisrareexampleofChineseNIMBYismforcedlocalauthoritiestorelocatetheproject.Whilethecasewashailedasararevictoryforpublicprotest，theplantwasultimatelybuiltinthenearbytownofZhangzhou.

　　UnliketheircounterpartsinXiamen，theZhangzhougovernment，eagertoprioritizeurbandevelopment，onlymadealow-profileintroductionoftheprojecttolocalresidents.Localmediafollowedthegovernment’slead，onlyreportingtheDAplant’sconstructionasa“keypetrochemicalproject，”andavoidinganymentionofPX.

　　Thegovernmentdivertedhugeresourcestorailroadingpublicopinion.LocalvillagersontheGuleiPeninsulaandfishfarmersinneighboringDongshanengagedinpublicprotests，buthadtheiraccompanyingpetitionsignored.VariouslocalsourcesconfirmedtoNewsChinathatgovernmentemployeeswererequiredtorefrainfromparticipatinginanyactivitiesthatdirectlyopposedorevenhinderedconstruction.Ifspottedataprotest，theiremployerswarned，theywouldlosetheirjobs.

　　Furthermore，theZhangzhougovernmentmadenoefforttosolicitpublicopinionregardingconstructionoftheplant.PublicengagementlargelyconsistedofgovernmentassurancesviaofficialmediathatthePXplantwasbeingconstructedaccordingtothehighestenvironmentalstandardsandwould，accordingtoonepressrelease，“definitelynever”experienceanaccident.Bombardedwithpropaganda，andwithdissentingvoiceseffectivelymuzzled，mostlocalresidentsbegantobelievethegovernment’sline.

　　TheconstructionofPXplantshasbeenhighlycontroversialinChinaduetoquestionssurroundingbothsafetyandenvironmentalimpact.However，nationalauthoritiesclaimthathighdomesticdemandforthechemicalnecessitatestheexpansionoftheindustry.Accordingtogovernmentstatistics，domesticPXproductioninChinameetslessthan50percentoftotaldemand