| Wu Lijun and her family are on the move again just five months after settling into a new apartment. While they are perfectly content with the home itself, Wu has become increasingly concerned about one of her neighbours a huge chemical plant. They moved into their current apartment in Tiexie District in the historical industrial zone of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, last August. While the local government has tried to re-locate some of the more heavy-polluting plants to the outskirts of the city to make the air cleaner, there are still many that remain in this heavy industry base. "I have no idea about what the plant behind our residential area produces, what kind of pollutants it causes and how severe it is," said Wu, who is now looking to move her family to downtown Shenyang. Wu's concern grew after dozens of villagers found their voices became hoarse overnight last December, and blamed it on sulphur dioxide released from a nearby chemical factory in Jinzhou of Liaoning Province. Some pigs in the area also died following the leak. Local authorities shut down the factory and launched an investigation. The environment protection bureau in Shenyang has unveiled new regulations this year which experts believe will help tackle the problem. It means all enterprises which produce pollutants must disclose their environmental protection information. It includes the types of pollutants they create, pollution indexes, environmental impact, accident prevention and emergency treatment, and measures to control emissions. Those who decline to publish their information will be fined up to 100,000 yuan (US$12,330), and the local environment bureau will disclose the information for them instead. The new rules also authorize the public to participate in environmental law legislation and file lawsuits against enterprises that cause pollution accidents. The bureau has a duty in providing proof. It has been hailed as a landmark in environmental protection legislation by Li Chao, chief of Shenyang Environment Protection Bureau. "The current non-transparency triggers public panic and social instability. What we will do is to inform people of the complete and real environment conditions and encourage the public to participate in daily supervision work," said Li. In the past, the absence of public participation in environmental protection has caused unnecessary panic, and proved a major headache for local environment protection departments. "Our aim is to have the public join environmental protection efforts and break the old officials-oriented administration mode," said Li. As a traditional industrial base, Shenyang faces much worse pollution problems than many other places in China. But in the past several years, the local government has already greatly improved the environment through the introduction of public participation. The local environment protection bureau has published their work plan online and solicited public comments. Zheng Haibin, from a local transformer manufacturer, agreed the new regulations would help improve the environment. "The disclosure of pollutant information will force us to invest more in environmental protection as people never want to lose face and dignity," he said. But other plants have expressed concern about the new regulations. "We have already set up a scientific environment protection system. I worry that whether the new rules will cause unnecessary panic and have a negative effect on our enterprise once the professional data is open to the public. The general populace lacks special training or related knowledge," said one senior project manager surnamed as Kong from Shenyang Chemical Industry Co Ltd. However, experts refute this opinion. "The environmental information is about our health it should be disclosed," said Wang Canfa, professor from China University of Politics and Law. Wang is active in environment protection work. "Public participation will better protect the environment, not threaten it. This is about our lives," said Wang. | 
