Air clears over China wastewater plant protest

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese villagers said on Wednesday they had released officials they were holding in protests over a faulty sewage plant which flared into clashes with police near a huge oil refinery project two days ago.

The wastewater treatment plant in China's southeastern Fujian province serves an industrial park in the Quangang district of Quanzhou, where Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co Ltd, a joint venture between Sinopec Corp and Saudi Aramco, began trials of its ethylene and other units last week.

"Right now the government has a hard time resolving this, because the plant belongs to the integrated Fujian Petchem project, which is state-owned, but there are a lot of private interests involved too," said one villager living near the plant.

Villagers broke into the wastewater treatment plant, smashing windows and overturning cars, late on Monday after protesting for days over a bad odor and seepage from the plant, the local Straits News reported on Tuesday.

They held two local officials for at least a day.

"The people have already submitted their demands, now they are waiting to see the government's attitude and its detailed proposals for resolution," said another villager, adding that the police presence had already lessened.

Most of the villagers involved in the protest lived close to the plant. At least one policeman and a local official were badly injured in clashes between villagers and police.

It was not clear whether the wastewater treatment plant directly served the new refinery, which began testing its crude oil unit in May. The $5 billion complex is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

The Chinese government has become increasingly worried about the environmental and health costs of pollution, and about rising public anger over the problem.

Last month there were protests at factories that were suspected of being the cause of lead poisoning of several hundred children in at least two Chinese provinces.

"Mass incidents" -- or riots and protests -- sparked by environmental problems have been rising at a rate of 30 percent per year, according to China's environmental protection minister, Zhou Shengxian.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Alfred Jin; Editing by Paul Tait)