Recently, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly held a video conference on the investigation and governance of risks and hidden dangers of tailings dams, deploying a month-long intensive investigation and governance of risks and hidden dangers of tailings dams.
Liu Wei, member of the Party Committee and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management, and Zhuang Guotai, member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the meeting and delivered speeches.
The meeting pointed out that in recent years, relevant departments have continuously promoted the special rectification and comprehensive governance of tailings dams, and the safety protection conditions of tailings dams nationwide have been significantly improved. However, the recent tailings dam leaks in Heilongjiang and Shaanxi have sounded an alarm for us, reflecting that tailings dams currently still face major risks and challenges of intertwined safety and environmental risks.
We must thoroughly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on safety production and the important instructions of Premier Li Keqiang and other central leaders, strengthen the implementation of various responsibility measures for preventing and resolving major safety risks and environmental risks, and resolutely curb the occurrence of major and serious production safety accidents and major and serious sudden environmental events.
The meeting emphasized that a month-long intensive investigation and governance of risks and hidden dangers of tailings dams should be immediately launched, strengthening rectification and implementation to fundamentally eliminate hidden dangers. A sound joint working mechanism should be established, the basic information of tailings dams and the list of responsible persons should be published, responsibilities should be clearly defined, and a concerted effort should be formed.
Focusing on "overhead dams" that are prone to major and serious accidents, long-term disused dams, and tailings dams within 1 kilometer of the coastline of the Yangtze River, Yellow River main streams and important tributaries, and tailings dams around water sources that are prone to major downstream environmental pollution, joint law enforcement should be strengthened, serious accountability should be pursued, and the implementation of enterprise main responsibilities should be effectively promoted. Emergency preparedness, such as plans and materials, should be strengthened, and flood prevention measures for tailings dams should be strictly implemented to ensure the safe passage of floods in tailings dams.
Relevant department heads from the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Emergency Management, and China Meteorological Administration attended the main meeting. Heads of emergency management departments, ecological environment departments at all levels and key tailings dam enterprises attended the branch meetings.
