Pearl River Estuary Largely Destroyed
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pearl River Estuary Largely Destroyed*
Waters around 13 coastal cities along the Pearl river estuary were
categorised as "seriously polluted."
Beijing (AFP) May 22, 2007
The estuary of southern China's Pearl river has been ravaged by
worsening pollution, causing sea waters off Hong Kong to deteriorate
steadily in recent years, state press said Friday. "In the Pearl river
estuary, the ecology system has been destroyed and cannot be rectified
in the short term," the China Daily said, citing a recent report by the
Guangdong provincial oceanic and fishery administration.
About 8.3 billion tonnes of sewage from 82 sources were discharged into
the ocean off the coast of Guangdong last year, up 60 percent from five
years ago, the report said.
Pollutants such as inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and petroleum were
boosting the number of harmful "red tides," or algae blooms, that suck
the oxygen out of the water and leave coastal zones of dead fish and
other species, it said.
"It's an inevitable result of economic growth," the paper quoted a
researcher surnamed Zhang at the Guangdong Ocean University as saying.
"Local governments have always pursued economic growth at the expense of
the environment, no matter if it is land or sea."
Pollutants harming fisheries as well as water used for drinking and
irrigation included lead, copper, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, it said.
Waters around 13 coastal cities along the Pearl river estuary were
categorised as "seriously polluted," it added.
Guangdong province, which borders the former British colony of Hong
Kong, has been traditionally known as China's "land of rice and fish."
But following 25 years of booming economic growth, the province has
become the factory floor of the nation's export-oriented economy, with
thousands of plants filling the once fertile Pearl river delta.
Source: Agence France-Presse