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- Chinese environmental situation continues to deteriorate
Date: 23-May-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Spring sandstorms helped sweep away air pollutants and reduce the number of heavy pollution days at the beginning of the year, but the nation's overall environmental situation continues to deteriorate with several major rivers and lakes clogged with heavy discharges of industrial waste.
The country's environment watchdog Tuesday said, 'Pollution worsened in many parts of the country in the first quarter of the year according to nationwide monitor results.'
Pan Yue, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said, 'The improved air quality in some cities is absolutely no reason for complacency because foul air emissions are beyond acceptable limits in other cities.'
Eight sandstorms from north China helped produce an additional 13 days of clear skies and fresh air for each city, reducing the size of airborne particles.
According to the SEPA official, China's seven major water systems including the Yangtze River and Yellow River remained 'mildly polluted', with no obvious alteration in water quality in general.
An earlier report on Yangtze River protection and development said more than 600 kilometers of the river are in critical condition, and pollution, damming and too many boats have caused adramatic decline in Yangtze aquatic life.
Pan said pollution of three rivers -- the Songhuajiang River in northeastern China, Huaihe River north of the Yangtze River and Haihe River near Beijing and Tianjin -- had worsened a great deal.He said the situation of Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake in east China and Dianchi Lake in Yunnan Province had also deteriorated dramatically.
With the Songhuajiang River taking the lead, there have been frequent reports of pollution in the major rivers and their tributaries in recent years.
Ten tons of toxic chemicals were dumped into Songhua's tributary Mangniu River in Jilin by two truck drivers from Changbaishan Jingxi Chemical Company last August.
In November 2005, about 100 tons of polluted waste containing benzene spilled into the Songhuajiang River after a chemical plant explosion in Jilin. The incident forced cities along the river, including Heilongjiang's provincial capital Harbin, to temporarily cut water supplies to 3.8 million people.
In a recent secret investigation of 82 polluting enterprises along the Songhuajiang River, the SEPA found that more than 80 percent of them had released pollutants exceeding national standards.
The quality of water sources for major Chinese cities monitored by the SEPA also deteriorated in the first three months with 69.3 percent rated as 'qualified,' 5 percentage points lower than the same time last year, Pan said.
SEPA also said on Tuesday that it has applied to a local court in east China's Zhejiang Province to force the Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing company to halt work on a 1,500-kilowatt power generating station. The environmental watchdog ordered the project stopped in October 2006 but the company has ignored the order.
SEPA recently issued a measure, which will take effect next May, that will require major polluting companies to make public environmental information including the type, amount, density and treatment method of key pollutants they discharge. The companies must also report their environmental protection facilities and emergency plan, according to Pan.
'Companies violating the regulations will face fines of up to 100,000 yuan (about 12,820 U.S. dollars),' Pan said.
China reported 161 pollution accidents last year, according to the SEPA. The country shut down a total of 3,176 polluting enterprises amid a campaign in which 720,000 companies were inspected for how they were handling their pollution discharge last year, according to the SEPA.
In March, SEPA published a long list of more than 6,000 industrial polluters, including well-known companies and factories such as Sinopec's Nanjing facility and a steel plant owned by Shougang Group, China's leading steel producer.
SEPA has required all the companies on the list to install automatic monitoring and control systems which are directly connected to local environmental protection departments.
SEPA's director Zhou Shengxian announced earlier this month additional efforts to bring into check rising discharge of industrial waste and the deterioration of water and air quality.
China is setting up an extensive automation network which, by the end of 2008, will conduct real-time monitoring of the country's key polluters which account for 65 percent of the country's industrial waste.
The network will also monitor the activities of urban sewage disposal plants.
Plans are in the pipeline for assessment of local government work on pollution control, in which authorities who fail to meet pollution control targets will be punished by cuts in financial support from the central government.
According to Zhou, the promotion prospects of local officials will also depend on their efforts to reduce pollution.
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