Environmental survey results over incinerator questioned

GUANGZHOU: The results of a survey by local government officials here that the Likeng garbage incinerator caused no environmental or health problems have come under fire after environmental officials said those in charge of the survey did not speak to or visit anyone who lives nearby.

The findings of the survey, which were released early this year, indicated that burning trash in Guangzhou's Baiyun district was safe and that neither deaths nor cancer cases have risen after the incinerator was put into operation three years ago.

"The survey is very bureaucratic and incompetent, as none of the local households has been visited by relevant officials and personnel for the special survey," said Zhao Zhangyuan, a researcher from the Chinese Environmental Research Institute.