China solar firm to halt production after contamination protests

The safety supervision and economic departments in China’s Haining, Zhejiang Province, have ordered JinkoSolar Corporation to halt production to put a stop to the discharge of pollutants. A number of people have also been detained for destroying the company's property, the Haining government said.

Over 500 residents of Hongxiao village in Haining gathered last week at the gates of the photovoltaic products manufacturer JinkoSolar, after it was accused of causing excessive pollution.

Chinese News Service reported on Saturday that large numbers of fish in the town river had died after heavy rain on August 26, and the villagers suspected it was due to pollution from JinkoSolar.

The environmental protection department of Haining is inspecting the company's waste disposal system and the water quality nearby, the Haining government said.

Zhang Jian, the director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Jiaxing, which has jurisdiction over Haining, revealed on his microblog that the enterprise did not handle its solid waste properly, which caused excess fluoride to flow into the river, killing the fish.

JinkoSolar apologized yesterday for the trouble it had caused and promised to clean up the pollution it was responsible for.