Home / Environment / News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Damage fees announced for Taihu Lake pollution
Adjust font size:

Factories around Taihu Lake, a major body of fresh water in east China that provides drinking water to 30 million people, will soon have to pay high fees for discharging pollutants after a serious algae outbreak earlier this year.

The Taihu Lake

Chemical plants will be asked to pay 10.5 yuan (US$1.4) for each kilogram of chemical oxygen demand (COD), a major index used to measure pollution, according to a pollution payment plan made by the Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.

The prices of COD per kg are set at 5.2 yuan, 1.8 yuan, and 2.3 yuan for dyeing, papermaking, and brewing factories respectively, the plan says.

"The high prices will force polluting companies to upgrade their treatment facilities and reduce waste," said Zhu Tiejun, the bureau's deputy director.

Currently, the polluting factories only pay about one yuan for the treatment of their waste by special plants.

According to Zhu the initial plan, starting in 2008, will cover 266 key polluting factories near the lake. Based on the practice, fees will also be imposed for the discharge of other pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from 2009.

The high pollution costs will likely force more than 1,000 small chemical factories to shut down, Zhu said.

About 30 million people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai rely on Taihu Lake, China's third largest freshwater lake, as a drinking water source.

An algae outbreak at the end of May rendered tap water undrinkable for about 10 days for more than one million residents in Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu Province.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- Premier Demands Investigation of Taihu Lake Crisis
- Five Officials Punished over Taihu Lake Pollution Crisis
- Fisheries Plagued by Pollution
- Taihu Lake Overhaul After Algae Outbreak
- Jiangsu Unveils Tougher Pollution Control Measures
- Central China Bans Pearl Farming to Restore Water Quality
- Tough new rules for Taihu Lake
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base