Nothing was an impediment for Wang Enlin, a 60-year-old Chinese farmer to study Law and thus have more tools to defend his land.
It took him 16 years to do so, and he did it self-taught, but he was finally able to achieve his goal: he filed a lawsuit against the state-owned corporation Qihua Group that contaminated his land in northeast China with toxic sewage in 2001. This caused local farmers to be unable to harvest their crops for several years.
This company is dedicated to the processing of petroleum and its derived products, among which is Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), with which a wide variety of highly polluting plastic products are manufactured.
At that time, Wang Enlin reported it to the local authorities, but he did not have sufficient legal evidence. That was the engine to start studying.
But since he didn’t even have money, he traded the chance to read at a local bookstore for sacks of corn. And, from what he was reading, he was gathering evidence. In 2007, she even received free advice from pollution-related lawyers.
Finally, Wang Enlin achieved his goal: he filed his lawsuit and the court, 8 years later, ruled in his favor, achieving compensation for both himself and his neighbors, thanks to all the evidence they managed to gather.
In addition, it was estimated that between the year of the spill (2001) and 2016, the company had continued to dump hazardous waste in that area, where small farmers depend on the land as their primary source of subsistence. It is believed that, per year, they dumped 15,000 to 20,000 tons of chemical waste.
However, the Qihua company has appealed against it, but for Wang Enlin this is neither a surprise nor an impediment. “We will certainly win. Even if we lose, we will continue to fight,” he said in an interview, sure in his conviction to continue seeking justice and protection for his people and his land.