Chapter 2: The Path to Prominence 44: The Environmental Storm (Part Two)

Upon arriving at the conference room, the small number of people made communication relatively easier. On behalf of the plant, I reached an agreement with them: the plant would invite the environmental protection department to conduct tests to determine whether the factory's sewage discharge had caused soil and water pollution to the villagers' land, striving for a definitive conclusion before the Spring Festival, or at the latest, by the end of March next year. The villagers could send representatives to participate in the entire testing process and supervise it.

During the conversation, I finally learned that the man in the leather jacket was named Lin Kun. Lin Kun was reasonably polite during the exchange, but before leaving, he told me:

"Secretary Wang, we respect you now and agree to the investigation, but that doesn't mean we are waiving our right to compensation. When the investigation is over and there is no proper explanation given to us, I, Lin Kun, am not afraid of trouble. By then, I will come back to find you, Secretary Wang. If the plant cannot resolve it, we will go to the provincial government; if the government cannot resolve it, we will go to Beijing."

After much persuasion, I finally managed to calm him down. Perhaps he also felt that since the investigation results were not yet out, saying too much was useless, so he stopped pressing the matter further.

I was not sure if she had been brought by the villagers, but after entering the conference room and introducing ourselves, we discovered there was a reporter who had initially hidden herself among the crowd. Now that there were fewer people, we realized there was a reporter from the *Huajiang Evening News* named Zhuo Ying. I had originally been reluctant to have a reporter involved at this time, but now that she had revealed her identity as a journalist, it was difficult for me to say much.

After the villagers' representatives dispersed, I specifically instructed Zhang Zhengliang to have this reporter, Zhuo Ying, stay behind so we could treat her well. After repeated efforts to persuade Zhuo Ying, she finally agreed to withhold any related reports for the time being, on the condition that we keep her informed of the environmental investigation progress. I readily agreed to this.

Immediately afterwards, I reported the relevant situation to Director Zheng of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. As for Jiangnan District, Plant Director Shi eventually approached District Mayor Long Renguang directly. Both Mayor Long and Director Zheng attached great importance to the matter. Recognizing and accepting the necessity of bringing in the environmental protection department for testing, they naturally understood, based on their experience and judgment, the impact this issue would have on the plant's production and operations. Naturally, they did not want such a large state-owned enterprise to halt production and affect the regional economic aggregate. Furthermore, they emphasized that it must be handled as quickly as possible, ensuring that no petitions were lodged at the provincial government or mass collective visits made to Beijing during the upcoming sessions of the Huajiang Provincial People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as the national "Two Sessions."

They respectively used their own channels and connections to reach out to the leadership of the Huajiang Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau. I also contacted my university roommate, Liu Hongwei, who now serves as a deputy division chief at the provincial bureau, to coordinate with the relevant divisions and leadership. A little more than a week later, right after New Year's Day, an environmental testing team dispatched by the Huajiang Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau moved into the Oriental Chemical Plant. I instructed Chen Quan'an to fully cooperate with the work of the testing team and, above all, ensure they were well-served.

The head of the environmental testing team from the Huajiang Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau was Yuan Huajie, a man in his forties who served as the deputy division chief of the Pollution Monitoring Division at the bureau. Whenever Yuan Huajie saw me, he always wore a smile, lacking any of the sternness and humorlessness I had imagined typical of environmental testing personnel.

Upon entering the plant, the testing team first familiarized themselves with the basic situation, inspecting the plant's sewage treatment system, discharge system, exhaust gas and waste residue treatment systems, and their operational status.

Subsequently, Yuan Huajie informed Chen Quan'an that he wished to visit the farmland where the villagers had suffered losses. After Chen Quan'an reported this to me, I naturally had no choice but to agree. Moreover, to demonstrate my friendly and cooperative attitude, I decided to accompany him personally.

When I first graduated from university and joined the plant, the area surrounding the factory consisted almost entirely of rural land, save for a few small shops near the main gate. Over the past decade and more of development, however, the surroundings had undergone tremendous changes. A major urban trunk road had been built on the side close to the factory gate, providing quick access to the expressway. Gone were the simple days of a few small shops; instead, rows of buildings had risen, accompanied by an endless succession of hotels, supermarkets, restaurants, fruit shops, auto repair services, and hair salons, forming the embryonic scale of a small town.

Behind the factory, however, it remained distinctly rural—stretches of crop-bearing land and paddy fields interspersed sparsely with farmer dwellings, ranging from single-story brick houses to multi-story buildings.

I accompanied Yuan Huajie and the three members of his testing team from the back gate of the factory to inspect the site. This time, the villagers were represented not by Lin Kun, but by their village chief, Jiang Zhenghua, a sturdy man in his fifties.

Guided by Jiang Zhenghua, we first inspected the crops. There were numerous patches of withered rice, corn, and other crops which the villagers had left unharvested to serve as evidence. The plants had withered and turned black; some were even molding. Yuan Huajie had the accompanying testing personnel collect samples. Jiang Zhenghua mentioned that some villagers had also kept portions of the crops that had been harvested right as they were withering, and Yuan Huajie had samples collected of those as well.

Subsequently, the group followed Jiang Zhenghua to inspect several problematic fish ponds, where many fish floated belly-up, emitting a foul odor. The testing personnel sealed several dead fish scooped up by villagers using landing nets. At the same time, they conducted on-site water quality testing and took samples.

Finally, we visited the homes of several villagers suffering from lung diseases. A common thread among these households was that they did not use tap water, maintaining the old habit of pumping water directly from their own wells.

In one household, two people suffered from lung disease. One elderly family member, afflicted with lung cancer, lay on a simple wooden bed, coughing incessantly, his face devoid of any trace of color.

It seemed that the middle-aged man in the wheelchair was not even the most severely affected. One family produced an examination report from the Huajiang Provincial People's Hospital, which stated that the lung disease was caused by drinking water contaminated with substances such as arsenic and chromium.

Seeing these conditions made my heart heavy. Deep down, I almost felt as though these problems were indeed caused by the chemical waste discharged by the plant. Of course, I did not dare voice this feeling aloud, but it lingered persistently in my mind, casting a shadow over my thoughts.

After completing the on-site inspections, the testing team took the samples back to the Environmental Protection Bureau. The final conclusions would have to wait until all the samples were fully analyzed. I eagerly awaited the release of the test results, hoping it would lift the lingering sensation of awaiting sentencing that weighed upon me.