An official in charge of environmental protection is being investigated after a company was allowed to pollute the desert with untreated sewage in Gansu province, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Prosecutors released a notice on Tuesday saying that Wen Wu, deputy director of the environmental protection bureau of Wuwei's Liangzhou district, was under investigation.

The notice stated that Wen didn't report and deal with the pollution in a timely manner, even though he knew a local company was illegally discharging pollutants into the Tengger Desert from June to January.