Chinese court accepts lawsuit over toxic soil near school
Three non-governmental organisations are suing chemical firms accused of poisoning site and making hundreds of pupils ill
A Chinese court has agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by non-governmental organisations against three chemical firms accused of contaminating soil near a school in Jiangsu province, one of the plaintiffs said on Friday.
CCTV reported last month soil and groundwater at a former chemical production site near Changzhou Foreign Languages School was found to contain toxic compounds and heavy metals. Some 641 pupils underwent medical checks, which revealed that 493 teens had health problems.
Friends of Nature, one of the plaintiffs, said the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court had accepted the lawsuit. The two other plaintiffs are China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.
Hundreds of pupils at school near toxic site in east China fall ill, some with cancer, state TV reports
“We, as plaintiffs, request the court to order the three defendants to remove the contamination their former plants caused in the area and to bear the full cost of related environmental conservation,” Friends of Nature said.
The three chemical firms failed to properly address the “severe soil pollution problems” caused by their production before they relocated their factories, the lawsuit said.
In addition, the green groups want the defendants to issue a public apology on local, provincial and national media.
The lawsuit, filed in late April, received backing from a legal aid centre run by the China University of Political Science and Law, as well as another environmental advocacy group based in Jiangsu.
