KateYHuang
04-25-2004, 12:36 PM
Pollution Affects Future of Three Gorges Project
As the Three Gorges Project progresses, observers in China and abroad have been closely watching pollution prevention and treatment in the area. China¡¦s State Environmental Protection Administration acknowledged recently that the prevention and treatment of pollution caused by the Three Gorges Project has been proceeding slowly. In Chongqing, a city at the center of the Three Gorges region, a series of pollution problems have emerged, caused by construction coupled with a lack of environmental awareness on the part of the local government.
A grayish fog and foul air blankets cities of all sizes in the Chongqing metropolitan area. Construction sites and migrant workers dot the cityscape. Slogans such as ¡§Don¡¦t Miss the Opportunity to Develop the Economy¡¨ are everywhere. Apparently, for the local government, economic development is the top priority and everything else is to be put on the backburner.
¡§The Chongqing economy has been growing rapidly in recent years,¡¨ a Chongqing cabdriver said, ¡§but air quality has deteriorated. Chongqing used to be called the fog capital of China, but now it¡¦s called the gray capital, because the air is grayish all day and full of ashes.¡¨ He continued, ¡§After Chongqing became a separate city, its real-estate sector boomed and devoured a lot of land. Where did they find the land to build in a mountainous city like Chongqing? Well, the government leveled mountains and filled valleys so that developers could build houses. We all know that the environment got destroyed in the process, but it is more important to develop the economy. [the say,]¡¥We¡¦ll worry about protecting the environment when our economy is fully developed.¡¦ This [situation] is quite common in other Chinese cities as well.¡¨
Because of its worsening air pollution, the Wanzhou District in Chongqing ordered all taxis to switch to using natural gas within two years. One cabdriver commented, ¡§The air is really bad in Wanzhou. Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner.¡¨
A source in the Chongqing Water Resources Bureau said that the chief culprit of surface soil and water loss is the building of highways and real-estate development along rivers.
Some experts warned that the rapidly accelerating road and real-estate development along rivers is destroying the land. Developers sometimes dump their waste materials into the Yangtze and Jialing rivers without any protective measures. Waste dumping could lead to river clogging, rising riverbeds, lower flood control capacity and endangered cities. At the same time, large amounts of mud and sand dumped into the Yangtze River have a negative impact on the safety of the Three Gorges Reservoir and are creating ecological disasters.
Following the guiding principle of ¡§economy above environment¡¨ pursued by local governments, the local population has almost no concept of environmental protection. The residents along the Yangtze River do not seem to care about this ¡§mother river¡¨ that has nurtured them.
Ferryboat riders in Chongqing¡¦s Yunyang County throw all their trash into the river even though signs posted on the ferry say ¡§Please Protect the Yangtze River.¡¨ Their attitude is, ¡§Where else can we dispose of our trash?¡¨
The Yangtze River cuts through Chongqing, which lies in the center of the Three Gorges area. Because of this, urban pollution is closely related to the safety of the Three Gorge Project. The Chongqing government acknowledged, ¡§Due to historical and practical reasons, severe industrial pollution, urban residential pollution, rural surface pollution, boat pollution and other problems, this has put a lot of stress on the environment of the reservoir.¡¨
If local governments continue to ignore the safety of the Three Gorges Project in their pursuit of economic development and urbanization, China¡¦s most scrutinized water resources project will be in grave danger. The Economic Observer recently reported, ¡§On October 14, 2003, Huadian Shilongba, the first hydroelectric power plant in China, shut down because several major maintenance efforts failed to stop the severe corrosion of the equipment.¡¨
The report said, ¡§The power plant, built in 1908 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, had served as a historic site, educational resource, tourist attraction, and power supplier. The plant had worked well for 90 years but unexpectedly succumbed to equipment failure in the first few months of 2003.¡¨
The report, titled, ¡§Environmental Retribution from the First Hydroelectric Power Plant in China,¡¨ continued, ¡§In Shilongba, we were hit by either karmic retribution or one of the strangest [environmental] cycles in our industrial history.¡¨ The report further queried, ¡§When the human race¡¦s ability to subsist has quickly risen and when the existence of our species is intertwined with the ecology in ever more complicated relationship, how can our future be bright if we continue to wantonly squander our resources as if we were still in a pre-industrial, self-sufficient, agricultural society?¡¨
The Three Gorges area in China is clearly facing the same problem. On June 1, 2003, the Three Gorge Reservoir started to store water. On July 10, the second generator, with a capacity of 700 million watts, started to supply electricity to the power grid. However, the pollution problems in the Three Gorges region have never been resolved. Can the Three Gorges project escape the same kind of ¡§retribution¡¨ that struck Huadian Shilongba¡¦s power plant? The Chongqing government has to be decisive in solving these problems.
As the Three Gorges Project progresses, observers in China and abroad have been closely watching pollution prevention and treatment in the area. China¡¦s State Environmental Protection Administration acknowledged recently that the prevention and treatment of pollution caused by the Three Gorges Project has been proceeding slowly. In Chongqing, a city at the center of the Three Gorges region, a series of pollution problems have emerged, caused by construction coupled with a lack of environmental awareness on the part of the local government.
A grayish fog and foul air blankets cities of all sizes in the Chongqing metropolitan area. Construction sites and migrant workers dot the cityscape. Slogans such as ¡§Don¡¦t Miss the Opportunity to Develop the Economy¡¨ are everywhere. Apparently, for the local government, economic development is the top priority and everything else is to be put on the backburner.
¡§The Chongqing economy has been growing rapidly in recent years,¡¨ a Chongqing cabdriver said, ¡§but air quality has deteriorated. Chongqing used to be called the fog capital of China, but now it¡¦s called the gray capital, because the air is grayish all day and full of ashes.¡¨ He continued, ¡§After Chongqing became a separate city, its real-estate sector boomed and devoured a lot of land. Where did they find the land to build in a mountainous city like Chongqing? Well, the government leveled mountains and filled valleys so that developers could build houses. We all know that the environment got destroyed in the process, but it is more important to develop the economy. [the say,]¡¥We¡¦ll worry about protecting the environment when our economy is fully developed.¡¦ This [situation] is quite common in other Chinese cities as well.¡¨
Because of its worsening air pollution, the Wanzhou District in Chongqing ordered all taxis to switch to using natural gas within two years. One cabdriver commented, ¡§The air is really bad in Wanzhou. Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner.¡¨
A source in the Chongqing Water Resources Bureau said that the chief culprit of surface soil and water loss is the building of highways and real-estate development along rivers.
Some experts warned that the rapidly accelerating road and real-estate development along rivers is destroying the land. Developers sometimes dump their waste materials into the Yangtze and Jialing rivers without any protective measures. Waste dumping could lead to river clogging, rising riverbeds, lower flood control capacity and endangered cities. At the same time, large amounts of mud and sand dumped into the Yangtze River have a negative impact on the safety of the Three Gorges Reservoir and are creating ecological disasters.
Following the guiding principle of ¡§economy above environment¡¨ pursued by local governments, the local population has almost no concept of environmental protection. The residents along the Yangtze River do not seem to care about this ¡§mother river¡¨ that has nurtured them.
Ferryboat riders in Chongqing¡¦s Yunyang County throw all their trash into the river even though signs posted on the ferry say ¡§Please Protect the Yangtze River.¡¨ Their attitude is, ¡§Where else can we dispose of our trash?¡¨
The Yangtze River cuts through Chongqing, which lies in the center of the Three Gorges area. Because of this, urban pollution is closely related to the safety of the Three Gorge Project. The Chongqing government acknowledged, ¡§Due to historical and practical reasons, severe industrial pollution, urban residential pollution, rural surface pollution, boat pollution and other problems, this has put a lot of stress on the environment of the reservoir.¡¨
If local governments continue to ignore the safety of the Three Gorges Project in their pursuit of economic development and urbanization, China¡¦s most scrutinized water resources project will be in grave danger. The Economic Observer recently reported, ¡§On October 14, 2003, Huadian Shilongba, the first hydroelectric power plant in China, shut down because several major maintenance efforts failed to stop the severe corrosion of the equipment.¡¨
The report said, ¡§The power plant, built in 1908 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, had served as a historic site, educational resource, tourist attraction, and power supplier. The plant had worked well for 90 years but unexpectedly succumbed to equipment failure in the first few months of 2003.¡¨
The report, titled, ¡§Environmental Retribution from the First Hydroelectric Power Plant in China,¡¨ continued, ¡§In Shilongba, we were hit by either karmic retribution or one of the strangest [environmental] cycles in our industrial history.¡¨ The report further queried, ¡§When the human race¡¦s ability to subsist has quickly risen and when the existence of our species is intertwined with the ecology in ever more complicated relationship, how can our future be bright if we continue to wantonly squander our resources as if we were still in a pre-industrial, self-sufficient, agricultural society?¡¨
The Three Gorges area in China is clearly facing the same problem. On June 1, 2003, the Three Gorge Reservoir started to store water. On July 10, the second generator, with a capacity of 700 million watts, started to supply electricity to the power grid. However, the pollution problems in the Three Gorges region have never been resolved. Can the Three Gorges project escape the same kind of ¡§retribution¡¨ that struck Huadian Shilongba¡¦s power plant? The Chongqing government has to be decisive in solving these problems.