【Case Name】
Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd. flue gas online monitoring facilities are not operating normally
【Brief Introduction of the Case】
On the morning of September 28, 2021, the law enforcement team of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the inner mongolia autonomous region ecological and environmental comprehensive law enforcement team directly under the western direct subordinate team, the Wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment and the Haibo Bay District Bureau of the Wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment conducted a surprise inspection of the operation of the flue gas online monitoring equipment of Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd.
After the inspection team entered the company, it directly rushed to the coke oven flue gas desulfurization exhaust gas discharge outlet to inspect the online monitoring facilities supporting the flue gas desulfurization exhaust gas discharge outlet, and the law enforcement personnel of the inspection team inspected the company's online monitoring hut and sampling platform in groups. After investigation, the company's flue gas desulfurization exhaust gas discharge outlet sampling platform has a sampling port without a sampling probe, which is blocked with a mineral water bottle. After asking the third-party operation and maintenance personnel of the company's online monitoring facility, it was learned that the sampling port at the non-sampling probe was a particulate matter sampling port. Particulate matter sampling probe is blocked, the operation and maintenance personnel without informing the relevant person in charge of Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd., the blocked particulate matter sampling probe is removed and installed in their own work bag with the factory area for maintenance, and the mineral water bottle is placed in the particulate matter sampling port, and the law enforcement personnel retrieved the monitoring video in the company's factory area and found that the operation and maintenance personnel took the particulate matter sampling probe out of Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd. at about 14:14 on September 24, 2021.
After the operation and maintenance personnel remove the particulate matter sampling probe, the analyzer measuring device supporting the dust meter is not powered off, the air inlet of the analyzer measurement device is not blocked, the air enters the analyzer measurement device, and the dust meter measurement device uploads the air sample gas after analysis. As a result, there are anomalies in particulate matter data for the period from 14:00 to 28 September 2021.
After the law enforcement personnel have clarified the specific facts, the illegal acts of the online monitoring facility without particulate matter sampling probes supporting the flue gas desulfurization exhaust gas discharge outlet of the enterprise affect the normal operation of the online monitoring facilities will be investigated and punished.
【Investigation and handling】
The company's above-mentioned environmental violations violated the first paragraph of article 24 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution: "Enterprises, public institutions, and other production operators shall monitor the industrial waste gases they emit and the toxic and harmful atmospheric pollutants listed in the list provided for in Article 78 of this Law in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and monitoring norms, and keep the original monitoring records." Among them, key pollutant discharge units shall install and use automatic monitoring equipment for atmospheric pollutant emissions, and network with the monitoring equipment of the competent departments for environmental protection, to ensure the normal operation of monitoring equipment and to disclose emission information in accordance with law. ".
According to item (3) of the first paragraph of article 100 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution: "Whoever violates the provisions of this Law and commits any of the following acts shall be ordered to make corrections by the competent department of environmental protection of the people's government at the county level or above and shall be fined not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if it refuses to make corrections, it shall be ordered to stop production and rectify: (3) Failure to install or use automatic monitoring equipment for atmospheric pollutant emissions in accordance with regulations or failure to network with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of environmental protection in accordance with regulations and ensure the normal operation of the monitoring equipment; After the collective deliberation and decision of the Haibo Bay District Bureau of wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, the company was fined RMB 20,000,000 yuan, and on October 18, 2021, the "Decision on Administrative Penalties of Wuhai Ecological and Environmental Bureau" (Wuhuan Penalty Zi (Hai) [2021] No. 023) was issued to Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd., and the company paid a fine of RMB 20,000 yuan on October 28, 2021.
According to item (4) of the first paragraph of article 6 of the Interim Measures for the Transfer and Application of Cases of Environmental Violations by Administrative Departments of Administrative Detention: "Illegal discharge of pollutants by tampering with or falsifying monitoring data and other means of evading supervision as provided for in article 63 of the Environmental Protection Law refers to the falsification or falsification of monitoring data of manual and automatic monitoring instruments and equipment used for monitoring and monitoring pollutant emissions, including the following circumstances: (4) other circumstances that cause monitoring and monitoring facilities to operate normally." In response to the company's illegal behavior of not operating the online flue gas monitoring facility, the Haibo Bay District Bureau of the Wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment will transfer the relevant information of the case to the public security organs in the next step.
【Rectification】
On September 28, 2021, Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd. applied for manual testing of pollutant emissions from the flue gas desulfurization exhaust gas discharge port by qualified units, and the particulate matter sampling probe was repaired and installed on October 7, 2021.
【Case Implications】
1. Strengthen the daily management of enterprises and online monitoring facility operation and maintenance companies, and enhance the awareness of the main responsibility of enterprise environmental protection. Enterprises cannot relax the management of online monitoring facilities because they entrust third-party companies to operate and maintain; online monitoring facilities operation and maintenance companies cannot operate arbitrarily in violation of technical specifications because they are not environmental protection entities. After the problem is discovered, the ecological and environmental law enforcement department should implement the "double check" system, that is, check the main responsibility of the enterprise management and check the operation and maintenance responsibility of the online monitoring facility operation and maintenance company. Severely crack down on data fraud and automatic monitoring facilities that do not operate normally, urge production enterprises and online monitoring facility operation and maintenance companies to improve their management level and operation and maintenance level, and ensure the safe, reliable, stable and efficient operation of online monitoring facilities for pollution sources.
2. Increase the intensity of publicity and education, organize law enforcement personnel to go door-to-door to carry out legal popularization and law-teaching services, and post warning slogans on "crimes of damaging computer systems" in conspicuous positions such as industrial monitoring equipment and computer screens. After investigating and dealing with the case of inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd. not operating the online monitoring facilities normally, the Haibo Bay District Bureau of the Wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment summoned the responsible persons of the key polluting enterprises in the jurisdiction to hold a warning education meeting for the first time, and the meeting reported the case of the improper operation of the online monitoring facilities of Inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd., which played a great role in education and deterrence for other enterprises. At the same time, all enterprises are required to strengthen the management of online monitoring facilities, immediately arrange professionals to check the online monitoring facilities and rectify the problems existing in the investigation.
3. Because some environmental violations have the characteristics of transient, some illegal acts may be "corrected" at any time, so it is necessary to make full use of the "three noes and two straights" surprise inspection method, indefinite time, no greeting, no listening to the report, going straight to the scene, direct inspection, so that the enterprise under investigation does not have enough time to prepare for the response, showing the most primitive, most direct and most real environmental protection management situation and facility operation status, which is conducive to the timely discovery of environmental violations.
There is no sampling probe at the particulate matter sampling port, which is blocked with mineral water bottles
Operators take the clogged particulate sample probe out of the factory area
The Haibo Bay Branch of the Wuhai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment held a warning education meeting for key polluting enterprises on the case of inner Mongolia Yuantong Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd.'s improper operation of online monitoring facilities
The particulate matter sampling probe is repaired and installed