Our staff reporter Yuan Guoli - The Municipal City Management Bureau announced yesterday that Huairou District Huaiquan River Gas Co., Ltd. is suspected of adding dimethyl ether to gas to deceive consumers. Meanwhile, during the period of being notified and ordered to correct, the gas company continued to operate illegally, which was discovered by the law enforcement officers during a covert visit. Currently, the company has been investigated and will have its gas operation permit revoked.
It is understood that after the gas explosion incident on Peace East Street, relevant departments conducted a comprehensive inspection of gas safety. The Gas Office of the Municipal Urban Management Commission notified 22 companies with issues. Among these 22 companies, some had low gas operation evaluations, while others were found to have added dimethyl ether to the gas, deceiving consumers. Huaiquan River Gas Co., Ltd. falls into the latter category. According to the notification requirements, the company must immediately cease operations for rectification.
On the morning of May 2nd, the law enforcement team of the Municipal City Management Bureau, together with the Gas Office of the Municipal Urban Management Commission, conducted a covert review of these problematic companies. When the covert personnel arrived at the entrance of Huaiquan River Gas Company, they found four transport vehicles parked there, still operating normally.
The law enforcement officers immediately ordered the company to stop operations and temporarily seized the four transport vehicles. Subsequently, the covert personnel urgently informed relevant departments such as the Huairou District City Management Brigade, the Urban Management Commission, the Safety Supervision Bureau, the Quality Supervision Bureau, and the Fire Department, holding an on-site meeting requiring the company to handle the remaining non-standard liquefied gas in the gas cylinders. Local relevant departments arranged two people to monitor the enterprise 24 hours a day to prevent it from resuming work again.
Yesterday, Jia Shuqi, the acting captain of the law enforcement team of the Municipal City Management Bureau, stated that the company has been investigated. According to regulations, if a gas company violates the rules, it can be ordered to correct and be fined between 5,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan. In severe cases, the gas operation license will be revoked. Given that the company continued to violate the rules, it will face the penalty of having its gas operation license revoked.
Yesterday, it was learned from the Municipal City Management Bureau that, apart from this company, during a one-month special gas safety enforcement campaign, the city management department randomly inspected 852 restaurants, construction sites, and other merchants. Among them, two cases were investigated, 46 cases were ordered to be corrected on the spot, and 35 cases were notified for publicity.
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Inferior liquefied gas poses great safety hazards
It was learned yesterday that the dimethyl ether (also known as methyl ether) added by the company in violation of regulations is a flammable gas. When mixed with liquefied gas, it produces toxic waste products. Excessive inhalation can cause dizziness, nausea, and chest tightness. However, due to the low cost of dimethyl ether, some gas companies have come up with the idea of adding dimethyl ether to liquefied gas to reduce costs. It is estimated that adding dimethyl ether can reduce the cost by about 1,000 yuan per ton.
More importantly, during use, dimethyl ether will corrode and damage rubber products, damaging the rubber pipes of gas equipment, posing great safety hazards. The state has issued documents prohibiting the addition of dimethyl ether. (Editor: SN021)
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