Wuxi is Suing Shanghai Because, Pollution

What happens when one city gets fed up with another?

You sue them.

At least that's what Wuxi has decided to do to Shanghai because, pollution. And fair play at that.

Government prosecuters in Wuxi are going after the Yangpu District Bureau of Afforestation and City Appearance after they hired two unlicensed private firms to unload thousands of tons of garbage on the banks of Taihu Lake.

They prefecture-level city is demanding over RMB2 million in damages to cover the cost of cleaning up 2,960 tons of household waste dumped in 2015. Prosecutors are also asking the court to keep the defendants accountable for any future costs linked to long-term monitoring and cleanup work in the area, not typical for most pollution-related cases in China.

The private companies were paid between RMB48-78RMB per ton of garbage they disposed of since 2013, even though they weren't licensed to do so. Tests of the waste dumped in Wuxi show they contained toxic chemicals, but they didn't reach hazardous levels... what a relief. (no pun intended).

This unfortunately, isn't the first time waste from Shanghai ended up in Taihu Lake either - 4,000 tons of predominately household trash were unloaded into its riverbank in July. 

Time to clean up your act Shangers.

[Image via Caixing Global]