NETDA appoints residents to help build industrial parks free of extraneous odor

Authorities in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA), East China's Jiangsu province, have appointed local residents to help build industrial parks that are free of extraneous odor.

The main duty of the appointed residents is to identify the extraneous odor and perform investigations, said Bu Xiaopeng, the director of NETDA's ecological environment bureau.

Ma Jiwei, who was appointed to do the job, said he is glad to be involved because building industrial parks that are free of extraneous odor is beneficial to local residents.

NETDA had in June launched a campaign to carry out monitoring of certain enterprises and their surrounding areas. Feedback provided by residents will be a major factor in the evaluations.

According to the action plan released by the NETDA authorities in June, the appointed residents' evaluation of the environment accounts for half of the total scores.

Feng Zhichun, the deputy manager of a chemical engineering enterprise that specializes in pesticide and herbicide, said that the new evaluation system has compelled his company to install three tail gas treatment units that have since passed the test of the residents.

In addition, NETDA will set up special teams consisting of local residents and representatives of enterprises to conduct daily patrols, according to the authorities.

Building industrial parks that are free of extraneous odor is part of efforts by authorities to optimize the area's business environment as well as improve the people's sense of gain, happiness and security, according to Bao Delin, the director of the NETDA administrative committee.