It is reported that the glyphosate manufacturing companies in Zhejiang are investigated by the public security department for the environmental crime and the manufacturers of glyphosate TC in Zhejiang are currently off production. Wynca and Jinfanda were reported of having sneakily discharged the glyphosate pollutants into the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal through a chemical warehousing and transporting company.

According to an insider, the chemical storage company, the Rongsheng Chemicals, has close cooperation with Zhejiang glyphosate manufacturers such as Wynca, Jinfanda and Nantong Jiangshan, etc. Rongsheng provided chemical materials to Jinfanda and secretly discharged the untreated glyphosate wastewater for Jinfanda. Three people from the company were arrested on site when smuggling the waste, who later confessed to the police the above three major glyphosate companies. Currently, the rumor has it that the investigation has induced to production halt among all the glyphosate technical manufacturing companies in Zhejiang.

The suspected participants of the glyphosate companies are also reported to have been arrested by the police but it was quickly denied by Nantong Jiangshan and Jinfanda. However, the response from the glyphosate giant Wynca to the announcement released on June 21 claimed that its storage and transporting partner is under investigation for suspected environmental crime and two employees of Wynca are currently “working with” the police on the case. It was confirmed that the two employees under arrest are the director and section chief in Wynca’s factory, respectively.

The Zhejiang provincial Environmental Protection Bureau detected that the water along the river has been affected with abnormal excess level of phosphorus and finally traced it to Rongsheng. The police also verified that Rongsheng discharged the Wynca’s glyphosate wastewater at the price of 2,800 Yuan per ton and totally 1,500 tons of the wastewater has been secretly dumped into the river since September 2012.

On September 25, 2012, an explosion in Wynca destroyed the waste incinerating equipment thus Wynca turned to Rongsheng, who conveys the waste to Wynca’s subsidiary company in Jiangsu Zhenjiang. Wynca explained that the incinerating equipment in Jiande was strongly opposed by the local villagers thus the wastewater has been transferred to Zhenjiang subsidiary for further treatment. Nevertheless, the subsidiary in Zhenjiang was also investigated of processing salt from the wastewater and 14,000 tons of the salt has been sold to 12 provinces and cities.

The wastewater of glyphosate was listed into China’s “National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes” and the “mother liquid” will also be stringently controlled during MEP’s environmental rectification on glyphosate manufacturers (ChemLinked news release on May 28 2013). On June 18 2013, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a judicial interpretation covering 14 standards of convicting environmental crime (ChemLinked news release on June 21 2013). An official from the Supreme Court explained the judicial interpretation is prepared to strictly punish the offenders as China is now facing a desperate situation of environmental and polluting problems.

Reference Links

• Sina's News Release( in Chinese)

• Wynca's Annoucement( in Chinese)

• Southern Rural News(in Chinese)