12 charged for dumping toxic waste in Yangtze

HEFEI - Twelve people were charged Tuesday for dumping more than 2,500 tonnes of industrial waste into the Yangtze River in China's Anhui province.

The people's procuratorate of Jinghu district, Wuhu city, brought the case against a waste treatment company in neighboring Jiangsu province.

The accused allegedly subcontracted its garbage to unqualified parties for disposal in January 2017.

Three ships transported the garbage from Jiangsu and neighboring Zhejiang province to Tongling city in Anhui in October 2017. The accused allegedly made two failed attempts to dump another 4,410 tonnes of waste, according to the procuratorate.

Prosecutors said the garbage contained toxic substances and polluted the river, soil and underground water in the dumping area.

The economic cost to dispose of this garbage is around 7.94 million yuan (around $1.2 million) and restoring the polluted environment is estimated to cost another 3.17 million yuan.