China plans to relocate 1,000 chemical plants after Tianjin explosions

Local governments in China have proposed the relocation and upgrading of almost 1,000 chemical plants, following an explosion in the port city of Tianjin that killed 147 people.

The blast occurred at a warehouse storing toxic chemicals that critics have claimed was located too close to densely populated residential areas.

Chinese industry minister Miao Wei announced that local governments are now progressing on plans to relocate and upgrade chemical plants across the country.

The relocation and upgrading is expected to cost around 400 billion yuan, and Miao said that central government, local government, and the companies involve would all take care of the costs.

“We started to work with State Administration of Work Safety last year to make arrangements for the relocation and revamping of chemical plants in densely populated urban areas,” Miao was quoted as saying by the Chinese state-owned People’s Daily newspaper. “Frankly, our work is not actively supported locally in the past year.”

Chinese authorities have said that up to 40 types of chemicals were being stored at the Tianjin warehouse at the time of the explosion, including large quantities of sodium cyanide.

According to government regulations, such facilities should not be located closer than 1km from public places, transport networks or residential areas.

The clean-up operation at the site is continuing, and photos released by the state news agency Xinhua showed cranes and diggers moving piles of burnt-out debris and shipping containers.

Meanwhile, China has amended their air pollution law in an attempt to clean up its toxic air pollution. The amendment, passed by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, requires a standard for gasoline quality is established.

Local governments will also be required to ban the use of low-quality coal in homes. The law has also become more environmentally transparent, with the amendments stipulating that air pollution following environmental emergencies such as the Tianjin tragedy should be monitored and the details made public.