2024, the inspection team found that there was illegal sand mining in the Lishui Estuary Wetland Reserve of Dongting Lake. Similar illegal activities are not the first time, and many cases of illegal sand mining have been exposed. From June to August 2016, 15 people, including Xia Shun'an, drove Jiujiang Mining 158, yuanjiang Mining 1168 and Jiangsu 999 sand dredgers to the non-planned mining area of Xiasai Lake in Dongting Lake for illegal profit. In August 2023, Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, went to Hunan Province to conduct a survey and found that there were problems such as cross-border mining, excessive mining and overtime mining in Bananhu sand mining area, yuanjiang City, Yiyang.
Dongting Lake, as an important water area in Hunan and Hubei provinces, not only has a unique geographical location, but also is the key to ensure national food security and water ecological security in the Yangtze River Basin, so it is very important to protect the ecological environment of Dongting Lake. Nowadays, the illegal sand mining incident in Dongting Lake Reserve has caused more than 2000 mu of Mengjiang beach to be hollowed out, and the problem of ecological damage is prominent.
Illegal Sand Mining "Legalized", Supervision Has Become a Protective Umbrella?
Lixian Water Conservancy Department has repeatedly violated the rules of examination and approval, conniving at enterprises to mine sand in wetland reserves. From 2019 to 2022, the local water conservancy department connived at the illegal sand mining of two enterprises as high as 17.79 million tons, resulting in the hollowing out of 1835 mu of Mengjiang beach. In order to legalize this behavior, the Tianjin Municipal Government has tried to transfer the area out of the wetland reserve, but failed. In September 2023, despite the Hunan provincial water conservancy department's explicit ban on sand mining without approval, in October 2023, the Lixian water conservancy department still violated the rules and approved that four sand mining companies should continue to mine 1.24 million tons of sand and further hollow out 250 mu of Mengjiang beach, totaling 2085 mu. The supervision department,
which should have strictly enforced the law, has now become an umbrella for illegal acts, not only for illegal examination and approval, but also for promoting the "legalization" process of illegal sand mining. The government's shield and connivance have made illegal sand mining more unscrupulous. Dual Driving Forces of
Illegal Sand Mining: Profiteering and Low Penalty
River sand is known as "soft gold". A sand dredger with a power of 1,000 horsepower can mine more than 5,000 cubic meters of sand per night. According to the profit of 20 yuan per cubic meter of sand, it can make a profit of more than 100,000 yuan per night. High profits make lawbreakers take risks and ignore laws and regulations, while low illegal costs make them dare to defy the law, even if they face certain legal risks, they are willing to take risks to pursue huge profits. This dual driving force makes illegal sand mining activities prohibited repeatedly, which poses a serious threat to the ecological environment and flood control safety of lakes. Excess
supply impacts the machine-made sand market
. These exploited river sand, whether legal or illegal, will inevitably pour into the market, aggravating the already saturated contradiction between supply and demand in the market. According to the statistics of Cement Big Data Research Institute, the annual demand for sand and gravel in Hunan Province in 2023 is about 575 million tons. According to the data released by Sandstone Aggregate Network, the demand for sand and gravel in Hunan Province in the first quarter of 2024 was 102 million tons, with a ring-to-ring decline of 44.16% and a significant year-on-year decline of 18.70%, and the market demand was very weak.
However, according to the "Sand Mining Planning for the Main Stream of Xiangzi yuanli and the River Course of Dongting Lake in Hunan Province (2023-2027)" officially issued by the Hunan Provincial Water Resources Department on September 11, 2023, Hunan Province has planned 26 mining areas within the main stream of Xiangzi yuanli and the River Course of Dongting Lake. It is planned to mine nearly 1 billion tons of river sand in 23 ~ 27 years. This means that nearly 200 million tons of high-quality Dongting Lake sand will flood the market every year. These high-quality river sands will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the existing machine-made sand market. Sand
mining is not equal to dredging. Illegal sand mining is very
harmful. Many people think that sand mining in Dongting Lake is beneficial to dredging in Dongting Lake. The siltation and blockage in Dongting Lake are very serious. Illegal sand mining should be recognized. Is this really the case? After careful study, the author finds that this statement remains to be discussed. There are essential differences between
dredging and sand mining. The purpose of dredging is to restore the normal operation capacity of the river, which is conducive to the ecological environment of the river. It is required to dredge the river as a whole, which can be imagined as shoveling a layer of river bottom. The object of dredging is the river siltation which causes insufficient flow capacity, or the sediment pollution which seriously affects the water quality. Generally, dredging is the main work, and sand mining is also taken into account. The purpose of sand
mining is to maximize the benefits. Because the surface sand is fine, the mud content is large, the quality is poor, and the market price is not dominant, sand miners often increase the depth of sand mining for their own interests, and wantonly extract high-quality sand and gravel from the deep layer of the river. It depends entirely on where the sand is good, and does not pay attention to the ecological impact on the river, nor can it grasp the degree of sand mining, which can be imagined as digging pits at the bottom of the river, and the sand pits after mining are often unable to be leveled for a long time.
As early as 2014, Xie Zhicai, a researcher who has studied the ecology of Dongting Lake for a long time, warned that illegal sand mining would lead to serious consequences such as river changes, dam collapse, mottled and exposed riverbeds, and pose a great threat to flood control and shipping. Sand
mining is not equal to dredging, illegal sand mining is a lot of hidden dangers, the state has repeatedly issued relevant policies, law enforcement, compliance, ecological damage can not be forgiven.
