The green group is accusing PetroChina of improperly disposing of drilling wastewater

Nov 30, 2013 21:26 GMT  ·  By

This past Friday, a green group dubbed the All China Environment Federation filed a lawsuit in a court in Beijing against oil and gas company PetroChina.

The environmentalists accused the state-owned Chinese oil giant of improperly disposing of drilling wastewater and demanded that a judge order it to pay nearly $10 million (€7.34 million) in damage.

According to Global Times, the green group maintains that drilling wastewater coming from the facilities owned and operated by PetroChina has contaminated both the soil and the underground water in northern China's Jilin province.

The $10 million PetroChina is expected to pay would be spent on environmental restoration.

Neither PetroChina nor the Beijing court where the lawsuit was filed has thus far released any statements on the issue. However, it appears that the company has agreed to send an investigation team to Jilin.