China's first public hearing over an environment issue was held here Wednesday, with the debate focused on a suspended project to line the lake bed of Yuanmingyuan garden in Beijing's western suburbs with a plastic membrane.

The hearing, lasting four hours and a half, allowed 120 delegates from all social circles to express their opinions over the project's impact over the soil, ground water and its surrounding terrestrial ecosystem.

Pan Yue, SEPA's deputy director, said his administration will take into consideration all the opinions from the hearing and make the final arbitration soon after scanning the environment evaluation report of the Yuanmingyuan project.

Zhang Zhengchun, a professor with Lanzhou University in northwest China's Gansu Province, said at the hearing that it was a downright damage to Yuanmingyuan's overall ecosystem and its landscape.

Zhang, who detected the project by accident when he toured the garden on March 22, was the first person to expose the issue to media. The hearing attracted reporters from more than 30 media groups.

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), host of the hearing, halted the project on March 31 because it did not secured official approval concerning its environmental influence.

The project, with an investment of 200 million yuan (about 24.2 million US dollars), began in September 2004 and is scheduled to finish in mid April this year.

Yuanmingyuan, the emperor's private pleasure garden, was founded in the early 18th century and was once known as " Versailles of the East." British and French infantry overran the site in 1860.

The newly banned project would have installed plastic sheeting at the bottom of the lake in the garden to prevent water from leaking into the ground. But it has evoked wide criticism for stopping the natural water recycling process and reducing the lake 's self-cleaning capability.

However, delegates from Yuanmingyuan's administration office, argued that the project, aimed at saving water, was not a blind at the expense of ecology.

A year ago, aquatic activities in the garden was suspended for the first time in history because the lake continues to run dry.

In recent years, the garden's lake remained dry for seven months each year, leading to death of many water life forms and vegetation. In order to keep the lake water flowing, the administration had to put water three times a year into the lake. With the membrane the effort would be reduced to just once a year.

Some participants pointed out that the garden's management officials violated related regulations as the project didn't get approval from the local environment and cultural heritage departments. Other even asked to punish related officials.

Pan promised that SEPA will continue to hold hearings on important environmental issues and decision-making of public concern.

This is SEPA's first public hearing since the law on evaluating environmental impact took effect September 2003. According to the law, a public hearing should be held to absorb different opinions before the government officially checking the report on environmental impact if the project has aroused debate about environmental protection.