In a ruling aimed at resolving months of debate, the national
environmental regulator on Thursday ordered that most of the
plastic sheeting covering the lakebed in Beijing's Yuanmingyuan
(the Old Summer Palace) should be removed.
The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said it
upheld the conclusions of Tsinghua University's environmental
impact assessment, and that natural materials such as clay should
be used to help prevent seepage instead.
Pan Yue, SEPA vice-minister, said in a statement yesterday that
a comprehensive plan for the park's water supply should be made in
line with environmental requirements.
Yuanmingyuan Administrative Bureau was criticized over the
US$3.6 million project after March 22?-- World Water
Day?-- when Zhang Zhengchun, from Lanzhou University's Life
Sciences School in Gansu
Province, found the sheeting being put down on the drained
lakebed.
Park officials said the project would save water by stopping it
leaking from the lake, but Zhang and other environmentalists said
the membrane could cause serious damage to the environment.
Zhang said many plant and animal species in and around the lake
would die and that the water would become stagnant and filthy.
There were also concerns that reducing drainage would affect the
capital's already low groundwater levels.
The SEPA called for a stop to the project on March 31 after
Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau revealed it had
not received approval from environmental authorities before
commencing work the previous September.
The project was restarted and completed in the first week of
April despite this, and a public hearing, the first of its kind,
held on April 13 with park authorities, scientists and
environmentalists taking part.
The SEPA announced on March 17 that Tsinghua University would
undertake an environmental impact assessment, after criticizing the
park authorities six days earlier for delaying such work.
Environmentalists are now hailing the SEPA's latest ruling to
have the sheeting removed, with Zhang calling it a "perfect
solution."
Speaking yesterday afternoon, the director of the Yuanmingyuan
Administrative Bureau, Li Jingqi, said the bureau would study how
to implement the SEPA's resolution.
Liao Xiaoyi, president of the Global Village of Beijing, a
non-governmental organization, also welcomed the decision.
(China Daily, China.org.cn July 8, 2005)