Dongguan, Guangdong: Check 76 Sand Washing Sites, 24 Have Problems!

On February 22, the Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, organized a special law enforcement action on land sand washing sites, covering 15 towns and streets in the lower reaches of the Dongjiang River in Dongguan City, and severely cracked down on illegal sand and mud washing. A total of 76 sand-washing sites were inspected and 24 enterprises were found to have problems, of which 2 were suspected of secretly discharging sand-washing wastewater.

According to reports, the Dongguan Bureau of Ecology and Environment focused on checking the environmental protection procedures of enterprises, the implementation of facilities for the prevention and control of waste water and dust pollution, and the management of solid waste and hazardous waste in this operation. At the same time, it used UAVs to carry out long-distance flight reconnaissance of sand washing sites and their surrounding environment, so as to further improve the efficiency of law enforcement and inspection and ensure comprehensive coverage without leaving any dead ends.

It is understood that the law enforcement officers of Dongguan Ecological Environment Bureau ordered the relevant enterprises to rectify the problems found in the inspection immediately, and the relevant ecological environment sub-bureaus followed up. The Measures for the Management of Sand Washing

in Guangdong Province, which came into effect on April 1, 2023, explicitly prohibits sand washing activities that damage the ecology and environment in sea waterways and river waters. The inspection team of Dongguan Ecological Environment Bureau stressed that illegal sand washing seriously damaged the ecological environment and must be resolutely cracked down on and curbed. Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment will further strengthen the environmental supervision of land sand washing sites, implement the daily inspection mechanism, improve the joint law enforcement mechanism of departments, and investigate and punish illegal sand and mud washing activities such as discharging, dumping industrial waste, urban garbage or other wastes into sea waterways and river waters according to law.