Home / Environment / Photo News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Pearl River Waste Harming the Sea
Adjust font size:

Guangdong Province must do more to prevent pollution in the estuary area of the Pearl River, which runs into the South China Sea, officials said.

Li Zhujiang, director of the Guangdong oceanic and fishery administration, said yesterday that the Pearl River estuary had been damaged by years of ineffective protection measures.

"The water near the shore has been seriously polluted by industrial, agricultural and urban waste," Li said.

The Pearl River

According to a recent research report by Li's department, Guangdong discharged 2.35 billion tons of industrial waste-water into the sea last year, of which only about 84 percent met pollution-control standards.

About 4.2 billion tons of urban waste, as much as half of which had not been properly treated, was discharged into the sea through the river, the report said.

The report added that sediment collected near the coast was polluted with materials such as inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and petroleum, lead, copper, cadmium, mercury and arsenic.

"Industrial and urban waste are the major culprits behind the worsening ecological conditions near the coast," Li said.

One consequence of these conditions is that the number of fish species has decreased from about 200 in the 1970s to the current 50, Li said.

Besides industrial and urban waste, Li pointed out that efforts to reclaim land from the sea were also to blame for the damaged environment.

Since 2003, Guangdong has approved 63 such projects in search of more land for industrial expansion. So far the province has reclaimed nearly 6,700 hectares from the sea.

"There should be a strict procedure to better regulate such projects. Otherwise, the environment will be further harmed," Li told China Daily yesterday.

More effective measures should be drawn up to prevent industrial and urban waste from finding their way into the sea, Li said.

"The government has spent so much on cleaning the river, but it never set up a special financial foundation to deal with pollution near the sea," Li said.

(China Daily July 25, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- Xiamen Takes Steps to Protect White Dolphin
- Pearl River to Adopt Fishing Ban in 2007
- Geological Disasters Threat to South China Cities
- Pearl River Area Faces Water Shortage
- China to Create Air Pollution Monitoring Network
- World Bank Helps Clean up China's Pearl River
- Guangzhou Vows to Clean up River
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base