Environmental activists said Monday that there is more than one cause for the air pollution which has plagued residents in a major residential area nightly for over three years.
Residents from Tiantongyuan North, Changping district, said that the local environment department has pinned the blame on a nearby asphalt factory, but Chen Liwen, from NGO Nature University, warned that the pollution comes from multiple sources.
"I went to that asphalt factory, which only operates at night, and that is certainly part of the source. I also discovered several burned trash piles in the neighborhood, and it seems some scavengers have tried to get the metal innards from plastic wires which can also lead to pollution," said Chen.
Also, Tiantongyuan still uses coal as winter heating fuel, another severe cause of the pollution, she said.
"Witnesses told me the smoke from chimneys turns black at night. If that's true, then someone must be turning the air filters in the chimneys off at night, which would also explain the smell," she said.
One resident of Tiantongyuan North, surnamed Zhao, who is 36 and a medical researcher, said that although the air quality is fine during the day, at night a smell of burning plastic always makes her feel sick. It has continued for three years, she said.
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