To ensure good air quality during the upcoming Beijing Olympics, ten key polluting enterprises in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have been closed.
As the emission of pollutants in Shandong Province, which is close to Beijing, may also affect Beijing's air quality, Shandong Province has joined in the team to ensure clean air for Beijing, and this has increased the total number of regions participating in the activity to six, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shandong.
A representative from Beijing Municipal Environment Bureau said as the air quality of Beijing is affected by the surrounding areas, the surrounding areas need to coordinate their activities with Beijing.
So far, Beijing and its surrounding areas have taken a series of measures in controlling pollution. By the end of 2007, they had set up and put 17000 megawatt desulfurization facilities into operation. In the meantime, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have cleared out a batch of high energy consumption and big pollution companies including Beijing No. 2 Chemical Factory.
The three regions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have also straightened out and recycled the gas at 557 gas stations to reduce the emissions of volatile organic substances.
