Episode 1 recap: Luo Yuan and Geng Nian were seconded to the Intermediate Court to assist in the investigation of the Jiang Petrochemical Factory.
On a rainy night in 2011, the villagers nearby collectively stormed into Yang Yunsheng's factory, and a fierce fight broke out between the two sides. The reason was that Yang Yunsheng took advantage of the heavy rain to discharge toxic wastewater into the fishpond, killing their fish. Yang Yimu became furious and was knocked down by the other side with a stick while his wife was still waiting for him to come back.
The Higher People's Court of Lingjiang Province is conducting a trial, and the appellant, Liu Guofu, shouted that they were colluding with officials and he would petition against them. The defendants, however, angrily claimed that he was a troublemaker. Administrative judge Luo Yuan warned both parties to pay attention to courtroom discipline. Liu Guofu claimed that the Jiang Petrochemical Factory emitted black smoke and discharged black water every day, but the Environmental Protection Bureau of Dajiang City argued that after testing, all the data from the Jiang Petrochemical Factory met the requirements, so Liu Guofu's claims were unfounded.
Luo Yuan said that according to the explanation given by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Dajiang City, which caused the pollution near Liu Guofu's residence, it might be caused by other reasons. Since the appellant had objections to the other party's evidence, further testing by experts should be conducted. However, Liu Guofu said he didn't have money to hire experts. Gao Yuan, the director of the office of the Dajiang Environmental Protection Bureau, blurted out, "Why waste words on these people?"
Liu Guofu became even more agitated and accused the Environmental Protection Bureau of inaction. Luo Yuan also reminded the representative of the Dajiang Environmental Protection Bureau that it is a government department and should serve the people. Liu Guofu's lawyer, Lawyer Guo, repeatedly tried to stop Liu Guofu from speaking. Public interest lawyers Ning Ni and Su Zhuo, who were listening on the side, were puzzled. After deliberation by the panel of judges, Luo Yuan announced that the trial would be adjourned temporarily due to insufficient evidence.
Liu Guofu's lawyer, Lawyer Guo, wanted to withdraw as his representative, but Liu Guofu refused. He couldn't just leave it alone after accepting his money. However, Lawyer Guo hurriedly left. Public interest lawyers Ning Ni and Su Zhuo approached Liu Guofu and handed him their business cards, saying that they were public interest lawyers and would help Liu Guofu continue the lawsuit without charging any fees.
Liu Guofu expressed his willingness to trust them. Luo Yuan packed up and prepared to leave by car. Dean Qu He Ping came over to see him off and asked how he was handling the job at hand. He said that the reason the Intermediate Court loaned him over was because of his outstanding abilities, and he hoped that he would continue to excel there. Luo Yuan agreed, started the car, and left the courthouse.
Professor Xia Modong, a professor of environmental engineering at Lingjiang University, was walking to the laboratory while talking on the phone. He saw one of his students wearing headphones and conducting an experiment. Xia Modong quickly covered the experimental apparatus with a blackout cloth, but the equipment still exploded and shattered. Xia Modong sternly criticized the student, instructing her not to enter the laboratory until she memorized the operating procedures and wrote an inspection report on today's experimental accident.
At that moment, Ning Ni came to find Xia Modong with an environmental impact assessment report from the Jiang Petrochemical Factory. Xia Modong, being a legal public interest expert in the chemical industry, reviewed the assessment report and discovered loopholes and deliberate concealment of test results. Ning Ni asked if she could testify in court, and Xia Modong did not directly answer.
Luo Yuan arrived at the Intermediate Court and was warmly received by the Court President, Tian Li Hua. He introduced Luo Yuan to another borrowed judge. When Luo Yuan saw the person, he called out his name directly. It turned out to be his classmate, Geng Nian, who is currently serving as a judge at the Qixing County Court.
Geng Nian was handling the case of Yang Yimu being assaulted, and they demanded that the assailant, Wang Changqiang, compensate Yang Yimu with one million yuan. Su Zhuo, as Yang Yimu's representative lawyer, accompanied Geng Nian to Yang Yimu's village. She suspected that Wang Changqiang was hired by Yang Yunsheng, so she planned to investigate Wang Changqiang's housing provident fund loan. The villagers, instigated by Yang Yunsheng's subordinates, directly blocked Geng Nian and Su Zhuo from leaving.
Xia Modong agreed to testify in court, explicitly pointing out the deliberate concealment in the testing of the Jiang Petrochemical Factory. Luo Yuan then learned that the environmental impact assessment report was commissioned by the Jiang Petrochemical Factory, funded by the Dajiang Tianyang Environmental Assessment Company, and it was with this assessment report that the Dajiang Environmental Protection Bureau judged whether the factory's production met the regulations.
To further investigate the truth of the matter, Luo Yuan and a group of people went to the Jiang Petrochemical Factory. Xin, the chief engineer of Dajiang Tianyang Environmental Assessment Company, and also one of Xia Modong's students, sent environmental assessment engineers, including Rao Bin, to handle the situation, as the assessment report was produced by Rao Bin. Shi Lei, the general manager of the Jiang Petrochemical Factory, personally greeted them. Privately, Rao Bin urged them to quickly remove the thirty tons of nitration waste that would explode upon exposure to light.
When they were retrieving the blackout cloth, they coincidentally encountered the inspection team. Xia Modong hurriedly arrived with Dajiang's team and found that the batch of nitration waste had already started to heat up, so he urgently ordered everyone to evacuate.
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