The industry’s lack of pollution controls combined with the massive use of sulfide and lime polluted the local water system so badly that people downstream were drawing up petitions and threatening demonstrations unless something was done.
After years of doing little or nothing, public pressure has forced the Pingyang county government to take the issue more seriously. It has ordered the industry to reduce the number of rotating drums (for leather dyeing) from 3,300-5,500 down to 500. Further, it has organized the 1,200 producers into 39 larger manufacturers. However, many former leather factory owners were forced out of business and now the county government is trying to encourage other cleaner and more value-added industries as the downsizing of the leather industry will strip at least 150 million Yuan from county finances.
