How far is it to destroy "Poison Land"?

On May 31, the State Council issued the soil pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, referred to as "soil Ten articles". Coupled with the Air pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan issued in June 2013 (referred to as "Atmospheric Ten articles"), and the "Water pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" (referred to as "Water Ten articles") issued in April 2015, it marks the basic formation of the overall policy framework for the Chinese government to comprehensively control the water, land and air environment.

When we see the black and smelly river, we call for sewage treatment; when we breathe the turbid air, we call for the elimination of haze; when we pass the hill-like garbage dump, we call for recycling and garbage disposal. However, the river can become clear, the sky can turn blue, and rubbish can be removed from the side, but where will the pollution go? Are they completely eliminated as a result of human technological processing?

The answer is no.

Matter is immortal and energy is conserved. Although our technology has made great progress, so far, the essence of most pollution control is to "transfer" pollutants. For example, the common sewage treatment is to convert water pollutants into "sludge", and the common flue gas treatment is to collect air pollutants in the form of solid or liquid. Eventually, these pollutants return to the soil in the form of solids. In fact, the matter in nature itself has a complex cycle of water, land and air, and soil is the sink and source of many substances. The earth accepts all with a broad mind and watches the departure of many materials in its own way. In other words, the soil will not only be harmed by all kinds of industrial waste and domestic waste, some water pollution and air pollution will also be transferred to soil pollution; in turn, the pollutants accumulated in the soil will often be released long-term and slowly, directly affecting animals and plants and people's living environment. If there is no overall prevention and control of soil pollution, there will be no comprehensive, scientific and efficient environmental control and environmental protection.

We can see and hear the smelly River and haze, but the condition of the land under our feet seems to be covered by the cement and greening on the surface. However, the situation of soil pollution in China is not optimistic. The National soil pollution investigation Bulletin issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources in 2014 pointed out that the total over-standard rate of soil in China was 16.1%, of which several types of land with the most serious pollution, such as heavily polluted enterprises, industrial wastelands, mining areas, etc., exceeded the standard rate of more than 30%. In other words, if you have such land around you, you have a 1/3 chance of being threatened by soil pollution.

Heavy metals and persistent organic matter are the most troublesome in soil pollution, which generally have certain biological toxicity and are difficult to degrade naturally. For example, China officially stopped the production and use of chemical pesticides DDT and BHC since 1983, but by the time the 2014 edition of the National soil pollution Survey Bulletin was released, 1.9% and 0.5% of the survey sites had DDT and BHC exceeding the standard, respectively-exactly 30 years later, they had not disappeared. In recent years, some scientists have still detected DDT and BHC from Chinese people, and according to toxicological studies, DDT not only has a certain carcinogenic effect, but also may affect human reproductive health. People living on contaminated land are prone to excessive intake of these pollutants through the role of the food chain, such as drinking contaminated water, eating crops and animals growing up on contaminated land, thus bringing about a variety of health risks. It should be said that this is more insurmountable than haze!

Cadmium rice, which was exposed by the media many years ago, has actually reminded us of the harm of soil pollution, especially cultivated land pollution. However, whether to buy rice from sensitive areas seems to be optional, so it may not be enough to arouse the vigilance of most people. Not long ago, the "poisonous ground" incident of Changzhou Foreign language School exposed the current situation of industrial and commercial site pollution, but at the same time, it also seemed to sound the alarm for more urban residents: soil pollution may be around you and me, and we may not be able to escape.

We can push the pot to "the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization", but the deficiency of soil environmental management in our country in the past is also an objective fact. You may not believe it, up to now, our country does not have a special "soil pollution prevention and control law", and the systematic monitoring and information release system of soil quality is basically blank-- except for the rumors of rivers and lakes. You want to know if your community is a "poisonous place" and there is no place for you to know. In contrast, water and atmosphere, people want laws, standards, monitoring, bulletins and communiques. As soon as people pay attention to haze, PM2.5 is immediately included in the 2012 edition of Ambient Air quality Standards. But what about the current "soil environmental quality standard"? That was the version made in 1995.

The "soil Ten articles" issued before the World Environment Day on June 5 this year basically covers all aspects of the prevention and control of soil pollution, and it should be said that it carries the attention and expectations of the relevant departments to it. it also responds to people's call for soil protection and supervision system.

So, what exactly did the "Earth Ten articles" say?

As the name implies, there are ten articles in the "Ten articles of soil", and the distribution of the contents is "28" pattern: two emphasize "governance" and eight emphasize "prevention". This tendency of "prevention" is more important than "control", which has something to do with our current actual ability and the characteristics of soil pollution.

First, considering the reality of the weak ability of soil environmental management in our country, the first task is to establish a set of basic policy system, build a set of supervision system, and improve the implementation capacity of the whole system. As a matter of fact, we have not yet finished the work of "touching the bottom" of the contaminated soil. The over-standard rate data mentioned in the National soil pollution Survey Bulletin are all points rather than area, which has a big error in describing the real situation of soil pollution in China. Relevant functional departments such as land, agriculture, forestry and environmental protection have not yet established a basic monitoring system for the exchange of functions and data sharing. However, without such a system, we would not be able to avoid "poisonous land" when planning housing, hospitals, and schools, temporarily prohibit the production of food, fruits and vegetables, and instruct industrial and commercial enterprises to control site pollution. This basic preventive ability must be more important than the treatment and repair of certain plots, just like when doctors treat critically ill patients, they have to check from head to toe first, and the machine monitoring should be installed before surgery.

Second, the treatment of soil pollution often involves long periods and large funds, and the requirements for treatment technology and project management are relatively high. once soil pollution occurs, it is necessary to make great efforts to control it. Only by doing a good job in comprehensive prevention can we minimize long-term environmental damage and reduce treatment costs.

The "Ten articles of soil" mentioned "whoever pollutes, who treats" is a classic principle put forward by the World Economic Cooperation Organization (OECD), but it is easier said than done. In reality, it is sometimes difficult to determine who pollutes, especially some of the contaminated land left over from history, and disputes over rights and responsibilities may be difficult to sort out. For the local governments that bear the responsibility, if they encounter several heavily polluting enterprises that have gone bankrupt, bankrupt and investors have run away, they must have no tears. Money is a practical problem. The cost of soil restoration ranges from more than one hundred thousand to millions per mu, and residential and industrial land may not necessarily be auctioned at such a high price, let alone arable land with a maximum income of several thousand yuan per mu each year. Although local governments can finance through superior financial support, public-private partnership projects (PPP), green bonds and other means, it is still a severe test.

The terminal treatment of soil pollution is so difficult that it is absolutely not like having a sewage treatment plant to discharge domestic sewage at ease, and with ultra-low discharge to boldly develop thermal power. The "Ten articles of Earth" reminds us that we must establish the consciousness and thinking of strict prevention and control. Of course, it also draws lessons from the advanced experience of many other countries, and puts forward market prevention and control measures such as establishing pollution prevention and control fund, environmental pollution compulsory liability insurance and so on. That is to say, in order to prevent polluters from being unable to afford or find excuses for bankruptcy and running away after the occurrence of soil pollution, mutual prevention funds or insurance types should be established in certain sensitive industries during normal production, which are operated by qualified financial institutions and supervised by the government. Return the investment income if there is nothing, and offset the management expenses if something happens. This additional fund or premium investment is not only a reminder to the enterprise, but also a guarantee for the environmental interests of the whole society.

Finally, the "Ten articles of soil" reflects the judgment of policy makers on the current governance ability. China has investigated hundreds of thousands of contaminated plots, but according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, there are only ten thousand people engaged in soil remediation at present. In front of this huge remediation task or market, there is a considerable shortage of talents, which will limit the development of soil remediation industry to a certain extent. In this reality, eager to pursue comprehensive governance repair is an unrealistic and empty goal. In urban areas with prominent land contradictions, priority should be given to the restoration of construction land, and priority should be given to the adjustment of planting structure or the project of returning farmland to forest (grass) in rural areas where funds are tight, which is a response mode in line with local conditions. Of course, just let the "poisonous land" into woodland or grassland, just let it no longer produce "toxic" agricultural products, is not a real sense of restoration. Some pollutants will still exist for a long time. However, it can only be hoped that in a few years' time, the overall level of the soil remediation industry will rise, the unit cost of treatment methods will decline as a whole, and many of the soil pollution that was originally covered up and evaded can be thoroughly treated again.

Generally speaking, in the face of China's vast land, to move towards a bright future, the "Earth Ten articles" is only the beginning of a protracted battle.

(Lu Qiong, Ph. D. candidate in population, Resources and Environmental Economics, Renmin University of China, invited commentator on overseas net)