中国生态文明建设（中英对照）连载之四十五

圆明园环评事件

本书由北京语言大学出版社出版，2014（教学课件光盘版） 作者 蒋高明

4.5.1 21世纪的圆明园事件

4.5.1 The Old Summer Palace incident in the 21^st century

圆明园，这个150年前被英法联军烧毁的中国皇家园林，在中国人的心目中，是与“耻辱”两字分不开的^[1]。现在，圆明园已经成为公园，在保持园林原貌和当地生态的基础上，发挥着休闲功能。

The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) is a royal garden destroyed by the British and French expeditionary forces 150 years ago. It is closely related to the word “shame” in the minds of Chinese people. Now, it has become a park, playing a recreational function while maintaining its original appearance and local ecology.

1985年，我考研笔试通过，来北京参加面试，来自北大的考生带我去看的北京第一个景点，就是圆明园。而20年后，我再次与圆明园相遇，是为了一次环境事件，是21世纪的一场新的“圆明园事件”。

In 1985, I passed the written postgraduate entrance exam, and came to Beijing for an interview. The Old Summer Palace was the first spot I visited accompanied by a candidate for Peking University. Two decades later, my second encounter with it resulted from an environmental event, the new “Old Summer Palace event” in the 21^st century.

2005年3月，正是迎接“世界水日”的日子，圆明园的水系却遭了殃。湖水被抽干，十几台挖掘机把自然分布、深浅不一的湖底填平，用塑料膜将整个湖底盖住，周围还用水泥封住。这是圆明园在进行“防渗工程”，耗资超过1.5亿元。

In March 2005, just before the “World Water Day”, rivers in the Old Summer Palace suffered a calamity. The naturally-distributed lakes of differing depths were drained, and then filled leveled by a dozen or so excavators. In the end the lake beds were covered with plastic film and sealed up with cement at their edges. This was an “anti-seepage project” costing over 150 million Yuan.

最早发现这一可怕的防渗工程的，是兰州大学的一名兼职教授。《人民日报》则最早报道了圆明园湖底铺设防渗膜事件。要知道，圆明园可不单单是一处爱国主义教育基地，也是北京这座大型都市仅有的几处自然水系之一，对北京市的微气候、地下水都有重要影响。工程实施方称，北京缺水，防渗工程后，圆明园可以由每年向湖中注水三次减为每年一次，可以节约水资源。但是，在湖底铺膜，就割断了湖底生态、湖中生态和水这一生命之源，圆明园的活水会变成死水，圆明园生态会遭受严重破坏，不可降解的塑料膜还会造成环境污染。这是一起典型的破坏水生生态的环境事件，北京各大报纸争相报道，一时舆论哗然，北京市民的反对呼声异常高涨。

It was a part-time Professor of Lanzhou University who first discovered this terrible event, and the People’s Daily was the first media to report it. The Old Summer Place is not just a patriotism education base, but also one of the few systems of natural water in Beijing, having a great impact on the microclimate and the capital’s groundwater system. The company in charge of the project explained that after it was completed, the need to inject water into the lake might be reduced from three times to once a year, thus relieving Beijing’s water shortage. However, applying plastic film over the bottom would destroy the ecology of the lakebed, the overall ecology, and even the life-breeding water resources. The consequence would be that living water would become dead, the ecology of the Old Summer Palace would suffer serious damage, and non-degradable plastic films could also cause great environmental pollution. This is a typical environmental event of damaging aquatic ecosystem. It was carried by all major newspapers in Beijing. The public opinion was seething with indignation, and the voice of denunciation from Beijing citizens was loud and clear.

在这种舆论氛围下，国家环保总局就圆明园防渗工程公开举行了环境听证会。这是中国第一次举行环境公众听证会，由新闻媒体进行了全程网上直播。社会各界代表120人和50多家媒体参加了听证，我也应邀出席了这次听证会。与会代表对此次听证会的程序、内容和结果所体现的公开、公正予以广泛认同，社会反响也十分热烈，听证会的网络点击率达到了百万次以上。

Faced with this repudiative public opinion, the State Environmental Protection Administration held a hearing. As it was the first hearing on an environmental protection issue, so the whole process was recorded for a webcast. A total of 120 people from all sectors and over 50 media representatives attended the hearing, and I was also invited. The procedure, content and outcome of the hearing were open and fair, and therefore widely acknowledged by the delegates. The hearing aroused enthusiastic social response, and the online viewings exceeded one million.

听证会后，我在《新京报》连续发表了两篇文章，强调圆明园湿地生态的重要性，指出破坏圆明园本地生态的做法的错误性。在广大媒体和公众的一片反对声中，环保总局对一些环评组织进行了整改，按照公众呼声，给出了工程重改方案，拆除塑料膜，铺设自然底泥，恢复天然植被，恢复圆明园原有生态。

After the hearing, I published two articles in Beijing News, emphasizing the importance of the wetland ecosystem in the Old Summer Palace and pointing out the mistakes made. With so much opposition expressed from the media and the public, the State Environmental Protection Administration reformed some EIA organizations.  On the advice of the public, it adjusted the project, removed the plastic films, laid natural sediment and restored the natural vegetation as well as the original ecology of the Old Summer Palace.

在整个事件的查处过程中，政府做到了“阳光行政”。从选取听证代表、举行听证、开展环评、再到审查环评报告和公布审批结果，整个过程一直在完全公开、公平和公正的原则下进行，充分保证了人民群众的知情权、参与权和监督权。

In the whole process of the investigation, the government adhered to the principle of “sunshine administration”. From selecting representatives attending the hearing, the procedures adopted, the environmental impact assessment, reviewing the assessment report, to publishing the final results, the whole process was completely open, fair and equitable, and fully guaranteed people’s rights to know, to participate in and to supervise the investigation.

“圆明园事件”的成功解决，体现了中国公众和媒体舆论在环保工作上的巨大作用。不仅如此，还体现了政府环境相关部门的应有职责，体现了公开、公正的环境执政能力。

The successful solution of the “Old Summer Palace Event” shows the significant role the Chinese public and media play in the environmental work. It also manifests the indispensible responsibilities of environment-related departments, and their ability to be open and fair on environmental issues.

[1] 1860年10月，英法联军入侵北京，在抢劫一空之后，火烧了圆明园、清漪园、畅春园、静明园、静宜园和万寿山、玉泉山、香山。因为最初的借口是圆明园囚禁了英法人质，因此常被笼统地称为火烧圆明园事件。

[1] In October 1860, the British and French expeditionary forces invaded Beijing, and set fire to the Old Summer Palace, Qingyi Garden, Changchun Garden, Jingming Garden, Jingyi Garden and Longevity Hill, Jade Spring Hill and Flagrant Hill, after widespread looting. The initial excuse for the invasion was that some British and French hostages were imprisoned in the Old Summer Palace, so these events were loosely referred to as Burning of the Old Summer Palace.

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