After Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province was hit by a strong earthquake measuring 7.8 magnitudes on the afternoon of May 12, Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian convened an emergency meeting the same night to study disaster relief arrangement. The meeting decided to invoke contingency plans for nuclear and radiation pollution and for water pollution. The Ministry sent a team of environmental professionals headed by Vice Minister Li Ganjie to disaster area to provide guidance for emergency relief. The team consisted of 21 experts including staff from MEP's Bureau of Environmental Supervision, Department of Nuclear Safety and experts in nuclear safety and pollution control. As arranged by the Ministry, the staff from Southwest and Northwest Regional Environmental Inspection Centers and Sichuan Nuclear Safety Monitoring Center have arrived areas hit hard by the quake to assist in environmental emergency response.

(Photo Source: Huang Yong from China Environment News)

Today Ministry of Environmental Protection has issued an urgent notice to Sichuan, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Chongqing, Jiangsu, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet, calling for local EPBs to closely monitor the status of nuclear facilities and ensure a hundred percent nuclear and radiation safety. They were also required to follow the situation of some environmental sensitive facilities like chemical plants, hazardous chemicals and sewage treatment plants and related regions to prevent and control possible environmental pollution accidents. The authority encouraged all staff to give full play to the spirit of "when disaster strikes, help comes from all sides" by supplying anything that is in need and actively support disaster relief operations.