A court in southwest China has accepted the country's first lawsuit filed by an environmental group against a local government, a member of the group said Friday.
The All-China Environmental Federation, a group backed by the government, filed the suit on behalf of residents against the local land resources bureau in Qingzhen city in Guizhou province, which sold land to a drink and ice cream processing plant they allege is a threat to a scenic lake area.
The land resources bureau sold 8,600 square feet (800 square meters) of land to the owner of the plant in 1994, but construction was never finished. The group wants the government to take the land back and remove the construction materials.
The acceptance of the suit is a sign of greater public involvement and use of laws to hold the government accountable for environmental problems, experts said.
"If this leads to more NGOs (non-governmental organizations) bringing public interest litigation I think this is a very important breakthrough. It means China is going to open the door to more public involvement in environmental enforcement," said Alex Wang, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S. environmental group.
Ma Yong, director of the legal service center at the federation, said the group received an acceptance note from the court on Tuesday. The case will open in early September.
Although the project had not been finished, Ma said it had to be stopped because its waste water would be a threat to the environment.
"The case will serve as a warning for government departments and companies that damage the environment, as we're stepping up efforts to play a supervisory role," he said.
Ma said he hopes the case will pave the way for more organizations to file public-interest lawsuits.
The group also filed a public lawsuit earlier this month against a company that operates a container port in eastern Jiangsu province's Wuxi city for failing to control pollution. That case was accepted but has yet to go to trial.
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