Garbage from Shanghai is found on an island of the famed freshwater lake Taihu Lake, in tourist city Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. (Photo/Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) -- As authorities investigated why 4,000 tons of garbage from Shanghai appeared in the famed tourist city Suzhou, a covert operation was found to generate surprising profits, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Eight boats carrying household garbage and construction waste were found docked at a wharf on Xishan Island in Taihu Lake in the city, which is known as the "Venice of the East". The suspects said pouring rain prevented them from dumping the waste before they were caught.
A ship owner said garbage was dumped in the lake almost daily since June 12.
Estimates say the lake, an important source of drinking water for Suzhou, already holds more than 20,000 tons of garbage, with mountain-high waste piled near the shore.
A resident living nearby complained about the stink and swarms of flies and mosquitoes. She said people dared not open their windows or eat on a hot day.
The Xinhua report said Suzhou and Wuxi, both in Jiangsu Province, have reported illegal transport and dumping of waste in recent years due to high profits in the illicit trade.
An owner of a freighter under detention claimed to receive 2,000 yuan ($300) from a middleman for transporting the garbage from Shanghai to Taihu Lake.
"We don't know what was in the shipment, but we could get 2,000 yuan after unloading it," the man said.
The Suzhou government has announced that it will conduct a thorough investigation into the case, and vowed harsh punishment for those responsible. Shanghai is assisting Suzhou in the process.
An insider told Xinhua that a middleman earned at least 30 yuan per ton of garbage, much higher than delivering other items. The person who helped find a dump site could get 5 yuan for one ton of garbage while the loaders and others responsible for dumping garbage also had a share.
An environmental activist said the source of the "dirty business" came from institutes responsible for waste management.
An environmental official at grassroots level also said some government departments outsourced waste management to companies, which found illegal places to dump it to save costs.
Xu Meijian, vice mayor in charge of ecology and environmental protection in Suzhou, said waste management is now a daunting challenge faced by many big and medium-sized cities, with finding a proper disposal site particularly difficult.
Legal experts said it's hard to make judicial determinations on household garbage and construction waste that is dumped, which in practice affects punishment.
Environmental agencies in Suzhou and Wuxi have called for trans-provincial cooperation in dealing with waste and preventing illegal transportation and dumping.
