China’s Yellow River, commonly referred to as the Cradle of Chinese Civilization is the 2nd longest river in China and the 7th longest in the world. As I had reported previously, industrial pollution has literally turned the Yellow River red. The river is the water supply source for over 150 million people, and irrigates 15% of the country's farmland. During the last 25 years pollution has caused the disappearance of one-third of the Yellow River's fish species, and 70% of the water is now unfit for drinking or swimming.
The situation has gone from bad to worse.
According to Ma Jun, director of the Bejing-based nongovernmental Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, raw sewage from factory discharges and urban centers now accounts for 10% of the Yellow River's flow.
From The China Daily:
Latest statistics show that nearly one million tons of sewage is dumped every day in the Zaohe River, a tributary of the Weihe (the Yellow River’s largest tributary).
There is no shortage of industry along the Yellow River, with a staggering amount of new industrial polluters on the way.
About 400 billion yuan ($52 billion) worth of coal and chemical-based projects were earmarked for construction along an 800-km (500 miles) stretch of the river between China's arid northern regions of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, (The China Daily said, citing Xinhua news agency).
Twenty million tonnes of industrial sewage were discharged into the river every year at Baiyin, a metallurgical industrial base in China's northwestern Gansu province, the paper said, quoting an investigative report by state-run China Central Television.
"Many of our children have no hair and bad teeth," the paper quoted Wang Mingzhi, a Baiyin resident, as saying.
The homepage of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) lists their motto: "Blue sky, green land, clean water, fresh air, and human harmony with nature". Despite the noble intentions of their motto, SEPA's regulatory enforcement appears to have rather dull teeth as evidenced by the fact that companies that pollute find it to be more expensive to comply with government regulations than it is to continue to violate the regulations and simply pay the fines.
The problem is exacerbated by the inability to properly deal with residential waste at the civic level. In Lanzhou, the capitol of China's Northwestern Gansu Province, 120 million tons of household sewage have been released into the river, yet only 3,300 tons were treated. Not that it mattered since even those 3,300 tons of treated sewage were unable to meet quality standards due to the city's antiquated treatment facilities. According to Lu Shaowen, director of the pollution control office of the Lanzhou environmental protection bureau, tests found alarming levels of coliform and nitrogen in the water; 42 times and 2.4 times the allowable limit, respectively.
Here is what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency writes about coliforms:
E. coli is a type of fecal coliform (emphasis added) bacteria commonly found in the intestines of animals and humans.
E. coli is short for Escherichia coli. The presence of E. coli in water is a strong indication of recent sewage or animal waste contamination. Sewage may contain many types of disease-causing organisms.
Fecal coliforms are bacteria that are associated with human or animal wastes. They usually live in human or animal intestinal tracts, and their presence in drinking water is a strong indication of recent sewage or animal waste contamination.
And here is what they publish about the problems of nitrogen in water:
Nitrogen is linked to the following human health and environmental problems:
Nitrification of drinking water: There has been a dramatic rise in nitrogen concentrations in drinking water supplies, much of which comes from air sources as well as fertilizer and animal wastes. In the major rivers of the northeastern U.S., nitrate concentrations have risen three- to ten- fold since the early 1900s (Vitousek et al., 1997). Nitrates are a human health hazard if they are present in high concentrations (greater than 10 milligrams of nitrate per liter of water). This acute nitrate contamination is linked to a condition that occurs primarily in infants called methemoglobinemia, or "Blue Baby Syndrome." The condition is rare, but it occurs when oxygen in hemoglobin (the compound that carries oxygen from the lungs through the body) is replaced by nitrite and causes mild to severe oxygen deprivation, which can result in brain damage and death. Researchers are also investigating a possible link between high levels of nitrate in drinking water and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. These health effects are expected to become more widespread if the geographic distribution and extent of nitrate contamination continues to rise.
Ozone: Ozone is made in the lower atmosphere by a chemical reaction between volatile organic carbons (VOCs) (carbon chain compounds that are released from a large variety of activities, including fossil fuel combustion) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Ozone warning and alert days have become regular summer occurrences in urban areas throughout the country. Ozone causes serious respiratory problems, especially in populations that are already under stress, including the very young, elders, and those with respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Even people outside of these high risk groups are subject to symptoms such as headaches, sore throats, coughing, and shortness of breath. Because people are advised to limit or forgo outdoor activities during these times, the quality of life is reduced for all people subject to ozone warning and alerts.
Acid rain: Sulfur dioxide and NOx are the two key air pollutants that cause acid rain. As lakes and streams become acidified, the number of plants and animals present decreases. In some cases, life dies out altogether. The health of forested areas is also affected by atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen which can put stress on sensitive tree species and result in the loss of soil nutrients and biodiversity. Acidification of streams and lakes also appears to mobilize toxic metals, such as aluminum and mercury, which present an additional risk to fish and fish-eating populations.
Eutrophication: An increase in nitrogen concentrations in estuaries and other coastal waters often leads to low oxygen (hypoxia) or no oxygen (anoxia) in bottom waters due to the decomposition of algal blooms. This has happened in parts of the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the effects of eutrophication include low levels of dissolved oxygen, increases in the occurrence of harmful algal blooms such as "red tides" and "brown tides," and outbreaks of Pfiesteria, reduced visibility, and other ecosystem disturbances.
Cross-posted at Ecotality Blog
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