Algae
Infests River Near Three Gorges Dam in China
China Daily ^
July 22, 2008
By Sun Xiaohua
A New Plague in Communist China
The month-long algae outbreak on a tributary of
the
Large areas of algae bloomed on June 16 on a 25 km
section of the Xiangxi in Xingshan county,
Cai Qinghua from the
"The pollutants from many phosphor mines and
chemical plants in the upper reaches of the
An excess of blue-green algae removes oxygen from
the water, killing fish and other aquatic life, which then decay and release
toxins. Smelling foul, the water cannot be consumed by human and animals.
After the algae was found in the Xiangxi River,
the local government took measures to improve water quality monitoring,
including banning residents from taking water from the river, preventing
fishing and organizing people to collect algae.
The algae expansion has slowed, Xinhua said.
Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of
Public and Environmental Affairs, told China Daily that besides checking on
industrial polluters along the river, the environmental watchdog should reset
wastewater treatment standards in the dam area.
"Construction of the dam has slowed the
velocity of many rivers in the area, which weakens the self-purification
capability of water body," Ma said.
"It is another reason why the
"The amount of pollution emissions the dam
area is able to purify naturally should be recalculated. With a big reduction
of pollutant emission budget, the pollution credits need to be allocated
again," he said.
Ma also said wastewater treatment plants should
strengthen treatment capability of phosphor and nitrogen.
The Xiangxi and six tributaries of the Yangtze saw
algae blooms last year because of excessive amounts of pollutants pumped into
them, a report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.