BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Thursday is struggling to control two enterprises in north China's Shanxi Province, which have wantonly flouted environmental laws and regulations and caused serious pollution.

    SEPA said that Zhenxing Group in Yuncheng City of Shanxi Province launched an electrolytic aluminum project in 1999 without carrying out an environmental impact assessment. The project, completed in April 2002, emits chemical pollutants. It is located close to residential areas.

    SEPA said that the project has caused serious pollution to the environment and harmed people's health. To make matters worse, Zhenxing Group is constructing a power plant without approval from the environmental department, said SEPA officials.

    A SEPA official said that the administration had sent the company three notices since January 2002, ordering them to stop the project.

    But the firm turned a deaf ear. SEPA has again ordered the company to stop pollution and to solve the dispute with neighboring residents.

    Another company in Yuncheng City, Haixin Iron and Steel Co., launched an iron and steel project without carrying out an environmental evaluation. Three blast furnaces have already been completed, according to SEPA.

    Haixin Iron and Steel was ordered to stop the project and apply for approval from environmental authorities. But it has so far failed to comply with the ruling.

    "The two companies have ignored SEPA's rulings and are apparently only interested in economic benefits. They do not heed laws and regulations," said the official.

    "The local government's management of polluting projects, such as iron and steel and metallurgy projects, is clearly inadequate and out of line with central government policy," he said.

    SEPA will keep a close eye on the situation of the two companies. The violation of laws and regulations despite repeated warnings will be punished according to law, the official added.