'Phantom Workers' Signing Environmental Reports, NGO Finds

(Beijing) – Environmental assessments are crucial documents companies and government agencies must obtain before they can start building anything from a massive project like the Three Gorges Dam to a trash facility in a small community. Now, it appears fake assessors and falsified reports are involved in some of those projects.

A notice issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in September criticized 31 assessment companies for cheating. One firm had its rating downgraded, seven had their business scope reduced and the others were closed until they fixed the problem.