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About one-fifth of the coastal waters of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong can now be considered heavily polluted by industrial and domestic sewage, according to an official report. The so-called 2007 Guangdong Oceanic Environment Quality Report concludes that around 9,300 square kilometres of shoreline – approximately 18.6% of the provincial total – has taken a heavy beating from the 6.9 billion annual tons of sewage discharged into the sea by the factories and homes of one of China's most important economic provinces.
According to the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau the main pollution culprits are the power, leather, chemical and papermaking industries, with the heavily industrialized Pearl River Delta as the worst affected area. Pollution levels are now so bad that local fishing resources are starting to suffer, increasingly robbing the fishermen of the Dayawan bay of their livelihoods.
But not all is bad. According to the Guangdong Provincial Oceanic and Fishery Administration "only" 50% of the 101 drainage sites included in the oceanic quality report still operate with sewage above allowed target levels – a marked improvement from the 75% registered in 2006. The results of the environmental report has brought renewed focus upon the severe environmental problems facing China, and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau urges increased cooperation between industries, state bodies and local government.
Full story in English
News category: China
Published on this site: Sep. 6, 2008
Source:chinadaily.com.cn
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