The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) announced 52 Anhui province chemical and paper factories were closed for polluting the Huaihe River basin. Pan Yue, vice-minister in charge of SEPA, reported that three groups were dispatched to inspect 165 factories and 30 waste treatment plants suspected of polluting. Investigations revealed that many plants exceeded discharge limits and a number of treatment facilities failed to operate to standard. The China Daily reported that work on more than 20 of Anhui's 29 new domestic sewage treatment plants called for in the latest Five-Year Plan ending 2005 had yet to begin. Papermaking, wine and beverage making, chemical production, leather, and printing and dyeing are Anhui's five dominant industries.
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