A waste transfer station could potentially pollute nearby areas if the facility is not managed properly. (Photo : Wikimedia)
The construction of a waste transfer station in Wuhan, Hebei Province, was cancelled after protests from local residents who were concerned about the project's potential effect on the local environment, an official told the Global Times on Thursday.
"The local government in Huangpi District, where the station was to be constructed, issued a document cancelling the project on Wednesday," according to the statement by an official surnamed Deng, who is with Huangpi's land and resources bureau.
Deng said the reason for the cancellation was not clear, as she has not received any complaints regarding the facility from locals since Thursday morning.
Several hundred residents gathered on the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday night to protest the construction, according to a nearby convenience store owner surnamed Chen. The demonstrators even pulled down the construction site's fence.
"The waste delivered to and from the station might pollute the lake nearby, and the adjacent neighborhood will also suffer from air and noise pollution," said a letter of protest posted on plcsq.com.
The construction site is located 660 meters away from the next residential community, a distance that the land and resources bureau claimed is deemed acceptable, according to a Wednesday report by cnhubei.com, a Wuhan-based news portal.
According to an announcement by the land and resources bureau on Nov. 12, the area was zoned for sanitation use, though residents have brought up the lack of public opinion solicitation, said the cnhubei report.
According to Liu Jianguo, a professor from the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, while the pollution from such facilities is controllable, the concerns of residents are understandable.
