POLLUTION TURNS CHINESE RIVER RED

[Anonymous]

Pollution turns Chinese river red

Water supplies to about 200,000 people in central China
have been contaminated by pollution, which has turned branches of a
major river system red.

At least three tributaries of the Han river – a branch of the Yangtze – have been affected.

State media reported high levels of chemicals in the water.

China is increasingly concerned about its
environment. A recent ban on plastic bags has led to the country’s
largest bag factory shutting down.

The Xinglong, Tianguan and Dongjing rivers were all affected by the pollution, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

A chemical spill is thought be the cause, but the source has not yet been identified and an investigation has been launched.

Gao Qijin, a water company official in
Xinguo, Jianli County, told Xinhua that the water in the Dongjing river
had become red with large amounts of bubbles.

Mr Gao said the company had detected the pollution on Sunday and immediately stopped drawing water from the river.

Gates closed

People have had to use the limited alternative water supplies

About 60,000 people in Xinguo have been left without running water as a result of the incident.

They are reportedly relying on bottled water and limited underground supplies.

Xinhua reported that five schools were closed and others were unable to provide food for their students.

Zheng Jiarong, vice mayor of Qianjiang
city, said water companies in five towns had been ordered to stop
drawing supplies from the rivers.

Local officials have closed a gate
connecting the Han river to the tributaries, and are using water from a
nearby lake to flush out the pollution.

Official attempts

China has been struggling to deal with pollution along its waterways

China has faced problems in the past with careless or dangerous use of chemicals for industry or agriculture.

Last week a farmer in south-western Yunnan
province was arrested for destroying a nearby fish farm after he spread
phosphors over his fields thinking it could be a fertiliser.

On Tuesday, China’s largest producer of
plastic bags announced that it had been forced to close, and lay off up
to 20,000 staff.

Huaqiang factory in Henan province
previously produced 250,000 tonnes of plastic bags worth 2.2bn yuan
($305m;£153m) every year.

A management official told Xinhua that
the company had no choice but to close, as 90% of its product were on a
list of banned products drawn up by the government in a bid to rein in
waste and pollution.

[Author]

February 27, 2008 at 11:04 AM