BEIJING, Dec. 24 -- The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) have decided to jointly investigate environmental cases in east China's Jiangsu Province and South China's Guangdong Province, according to an announcement from the SPP on Thursday.

This marked the first time the three ministries have worked together to launch an investigation, which would impel local governments and departments to look into the cases, said an official with the SPP.

The action from the top ministries will lead to a better combination of law enforcement and criminal justice, the official added.

A petrochemical factory in Jingjiang, Jiangsu, which has since been shut down, is suspected of illegally burying hazardous wastes underground.

Local government was subsequently urged by the MEP to investigate the issue and start ecological restoration of the area.

In another case, a water purification company in Dongguan, Guangdong, was accused of tampering with water monitoring equipment and the manual monitoring process.

According to the SPP's announcement, the MEP has urged environmental protection departments of Jiangsu to strengthen protection and surveillance of the area, and their counterparts in Guangdong have been asked to punish the water purification company according to law.

The MPS and SPP called for more in-depth investigations into the cases and higher efficiency in the judicial process, the announcement read.