Challenges and Successes in Compliance and Enforcement Programs in China and Air Pollution Monitoring Systems

September 15-16, 2008, Huainan, Anhui, China

On Sept 15-16, 2008, Anhui University of Science and Technology (AUST) and WKU held a conference in Huainan, Anhui, China to discuss the Challenges and Successes in Compliance and Enforcement Programs in China and Air Pollution Monitoring Systems in Huainan City. More than 300 participants attended the workshop.

At the opening ceremony Mr. Heping Li's, Vice Director-General of Anhui Provincial Department of Education, gave an introduction to science and technology collaboration programs between China and USA. His remarks expressed extreme appreciation for the funding from USAID to strengthen the education and research of Anhui University of Science and Technology. The China Environmental Health Project is the first and is a valuable case of international cooperation for a scientific research project provided by the United States government to the Chinese people. The workshop promoted knowledge exchange, friendship, and cooperation development.

The importance of the results from the CEHP was also mentioned in the opening remarks of Mr. Orestes Anastasia (USAID) and Ms. Sherry Hong (US Embassy in China). Dr. Zhang, President of AUST, noted that the pollution control will not only save lives but also impact the local economy by reducing the days of work lost and volume of crops damaged from pollutants (e.g. acid rain and particular matters in Huainan City). Jeremy Schreifels (US EPA) also provided the experiences on enforcing US emission monitoring, reporting, and verification programs. Dr. Haidong Kan, Fudan University also discussed the results from the project entitled, "Air pollution and population Health in China." Dr. Youngjun Jiang and Chris Groves also presented the water resource project during the workshop.

Results from the CEHP/USAID air and health program for the past years were also presented by Professor Liangmin Guo and Guoli Liu and Mr. Haifeng Yan, such as:

Study on the emissions from three Huainan coal-fired power plants

Study on the mercury distribution in the particular matters emitted from Huainan city

Study on the life cycle of trace mental in coal-fired power plants

Study on the relationship between particular matters and meteorological factors

Study on the effects of this heavy pollution in approximately 3,000 children in elementary and middle schools (ages 11 to 15) and in residential areas in Huainan.

Drs. Cathleen Webb and Wei-Ping Pan from WKU also presented the Mercury and Arsenic emissions and control during coal combustion at power plants. Ms. Giselle Sherman from Corning, USA, also discussed the new mercury control technology. Climate Changes Impact in USA (Jerry Shang, former US DOE) and CO₂ capture technologies (Yan Cao, Western Kentucky University) also were presented during the workshop.

Experts also took this chance to visit Environmental Monitoring Center of Huainan city and Huainan Pingwei power plant. The air quality and environmental monitoring system situation of Huainan city was introduced. To accomplish the goal of reducing CO₂ in China, the 0.006 MWth pilot scale reactor will be setup at the Huainan Chemical Groups to study of Caron Dioxide Sequestration project. The pilot scale site also was visited by several members.

On the evening of September 15, all the guests were invited to the opening ceremony of The 15th Annual China Huainan Tofu Culture Festival and its shows. Zhong-Bing Dong, the vice mayor of Huainan City, also met with delegation with information exchange.

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology also contacted President Zhang before the workshop to request a proposal for consideration of a matching fund to this CHEP project. USEPA also plans to set up a meeting with Dr. Pan to discuss the possibility of two additional monitoring sites (Shangdon and Taiyuan) in China to conduct similar project as the Huainan project.

The workshop provided an excellent platform for scientific information exchange between government officials, professors, scholars, students from China and USA. The publicity from this workshop also has been reported and broadcasted through six different media sources such as Huainan daily news, Huainan TV stations, and web sites.

Last updated July 2009.