Plants, mines shut in Anhui
11/12/2006 13:57
More than 50 mines and chemical plants in the city of Ma'anshan, in east
China's Anhui Province, have been shut down by the provincial government for
polluting the Cihu River, a small tributary of the Yangtze River.
The
factories will not be allowed to operate again until they meet environmental
protection standards, said Ding Haizhong, the city's Party chief.
The
river is north of Ma'anshan and is an important water source of the
city.
The city government investigated public complaints and found the
pollution primarily came from the mines and chemical plants on the upper reach
of the Cihu.
The pollution discharged by the factories has affected the
safety of drinking and irrigation water, Ding said.
The pollution in
China's longest river, the Yangtze, has worsened over the last 10 years as
billions of tons of waste continue to be dumped into China's "mother
river."
A report by the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission shows 30
billion tons of polluted water were dumped into the river last year, 50 percent
more than in 1998.
About 27.5 percent of the river's water is too
seriously polluted to be made potable, said the report.
Xinhua news
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