Rational thinking after the renewed fear of chemical construction

On February 14th, “Southern Metropolis Daily” published an article titled “Qingdao’s Chemical Project Over 500 Million Dollars Causes Public Panic”, which immediately aroused strong repercussions in society. Qingdao Lidong Chemical Construction Project and Sinopec's “great oil refining” project immediately became the reference. People have linked it to the PX incident in Xiamen and called for management and decision-making departments to respect public opinion and protect Qingdao's blue sea and blue sky and residents' living environment.
After six months of Xiamen PX event finally came to an end, the Fujian Provincial Government and the Xiamen Municipal Government decided to comply with public opinion and relocated the PX project in Haicang District of Xiamen to the Gulei Peninsula of Zhangzhou. The aromatics project of Lidong Chemical once again triggered the panic and opposition of the citizens of Qingdao. The people are worried about the future of Qingdao's beautiful environment.
At present, the people's awareness of environmental protection and safety is increasing day by day. People have already raised their vigilance on the possible harm to the environment and health in chemical production. However, most people lack understanding of the nature of chemicals and the chemical production process, blindly fear and completely reject it. It is considered that all chemical substances are poisonous and harmful. All chemical plants are seriously polluted and cause great harm. This undoubtedly artificially deteriorated the image of chemical companies.
For the time being, we will not discuss whether the Lidong Chemical Aromatic Project's construction indicators really meet the EIA requirements and how large the environmental risks are. We will not delve into the “wishful thinking” of foreign companies investing in factories and production in China, and the construction of chemical projects alone. The embarrassing reality that has repeatedly caused controversy and panic has already caused us to think deeply.
Talking about why "chemical" changes come from
Today, the oil and chemical industry is a bit "notorious". Especially in the past two years, accidents frequently occurred in the industry, in the hearts of the people have a great shadow. Jilin Petrochemical double benzene plant explosion contaminated the Songhua River; Guiyang Zhonghua Phosphate Fertilizer Waste Gas Treatment Plant caused a large number of leakage of sulfur dioxide gas due to a suction pump tripping; the nitrotoluene storage tank of the Dadi TDI Company exploded and these serious incidents occurred to the society. While giving the industry an alarm, it also caused the people to talk about “change” and change, and avoid the chemical companies.
With the vigorous development of China's petrochemical industry, the industry seems to have entered the "high incidence of environmental pollution accidents." The equipment of some heavy chemical companies is aging and poorly managed. There are major environmental risks. Some newly-built small and medium-sized enterprises pursue economic benefits one-sidedly. They have introduced or newly launched a batch of industrial projects with relatively backward technology, even the state’s explicitly eliminated and polluted industries. The level of development and improvement of China's chemical industry parks is uneven, and the technical level and investment of anti-pollution and pollution control have not yet reached the standard. In addition, the characteristics of chemical production make it possible for a considerable number of chemical companies to distribute along the river. Once an accident occurs, they can endanger the daily life of the people. Therefore, the public is on the verge of a new chemical project.
Multinational corporations “Do as the Romans do” environmental protection standards are questioned Foreign chemical companies pay attention to environmental protection, safety, and promote responsible care has become China's corporate goals and learning model, but in 2007 there were 90 multinational companies on the list of polluting companies, many of them Fortune 500 companies. The overwhelming majority of these transnational corporations came from Japan, South Korea, the United States, and European countries. They spread over 15 provinces and 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, and some of them even became large local polluters. This led to many discussions about pollution transfer in developed countries. It has caused the public to question the large foreign chemical projects in China. The MNCs' investment in China is China’s loose environmental policy and low environmental cost. Some companies “do as the Romans do” after coming to China, and the requirements for environmental protection may have been reduced to 75 points from the original 90 points. The holding of the aromatics project in Qingdao in South Korea’s holding of Lidong Chemical has been a big blow and has been unavoidable.
However, daily life in modern society is closely related to chemical products. The contribution of the chemical industry to social economy and modern civilization should be treated fairly. Facing the torture of many interests and circumstances, how should the chemical industry develop in order to eliminate the psychological fear of the people?
Before there is no hard-coded data and assessment results, we cannot comment on whether the project will definitely cause harm to the environment and health. However, such a storm should enable government policy-making departments, chemical industry practitioners and other related parties to realize again that The planning and construction of chemical projects must be more scientific, long-term and environmentally friendly. In the long run, only by improving the overall level of pollution prevention and safety production in China's chemical industry, and establishing and improving a legal system for environmental protection and pollution punishment, can those enterprises that are in exchange for environmental pollution lose their survival and make it available abroad. Enterprises in China’s environmental policy are indispensable to ensure that China’s chemical industry is embarked on a healthy and green development path and eliminates public concerns and panic about chemical project construction.