BEIJING. Dec 11: China's economic growth is poisoning the environment as industry spews pollution into the air, water and fields with tacit official approval, a new government study said, reports Reuter.

The environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studied seven provinces or regions to determine how successfully environmental protection, regulations were being implemented, the official China Daily said yesterday.

"The Investigation determined that many local policymakers sacrifice their environment for the sake of economic profit, the newspapers said.

The EPA study looked at the situation in Heilongjiang. Shandong. Yunnan. Guangdong. Anhui. Jiangsu and Xinjiang.

While most regions have codified environmental protection regulations, the EPA found that

the rules were floated by local officials seeking immediate economic gains.

In one case, officials in Lunan in southwestern Yunnan province built a cement plant in the "stone forest." a site of natural rock formations that is one of the country's premier tourist attractions, the newspaper said.

Also In Yunnap, a local government unilaterally decided to waive required pollution surcharges on companies for three years to promote investment, it said.

In the northern province of Heilongjiang, the Jixl Iron and Steel Company delayed building pollution treatment facilities and flatly refused to pay city authorities pollution fines of some 10.000 yuan 91.700 US dollar) — despite the fact that the plant was the single largest polluter tn the region, the China Dally said.

The EPA study also found that 80 per cent of the enter-

prises It Inspected in the lakeside tourist city of Hangzhou in central Zhejiang province "discharge untreated pollutants Into the environment." the newspaper said.

It said the EPA’s alarming findings showed environmental consciousness was lagging "far behind desire to cash in on China’s new policy of promoting faster economic growth.

Lax Zoning regulations, traditional low-technology pro duction methods and the cost of environmental protection equipment are all contributing to what some overseas observers say is an ecological disaster.

In one sign of what this may be doing to the human population. and EPA report earlier this year said cancer mortality had risen by 5.6 per cent in urban areas since 1988, with lung cancer deaths soaring by 16.6 per cent.