More than 77 percent of Chinese coastal city sewer outlets
discharged excessive amounts of pollutants into the sea in the
first six months, State Oceanic Administration revealed on
Friday.
According to an oceanic monitoring report issued by the
administration, the total amount of discharged pollutant from more
than 500 coastal city sewers exceeded that of the same period last
year by 18.2 percent.
Most of the sewer outlets were improperly arranged, with 43
percent constructed in aquiculture, tourism and reserved areas and
33 percent located in harbor and shipping areas, the report
said.
Only 8.4 percent of the sewer outlets were located in designated
discharge areas, it said.
Organic compounds, suspended matter, phosphates and ammoniacal
nitrogen were the major pollutants.
The report said 82.8 percent of the sewer outlets along east
China's Yellow Sea discharged excessive pollutants.
Li Chunxian, spokesperson with the administration, said the
average daily pollutant discharge from the outlets in the first
half was 9,230 tons, 6.7 percent more than the same period last
year.
However, Li said the average daily sewage discharged into the
sea dropped to 60.65 million tons, a decline of 16.3 percent.
The decline was mainly due to less runoff during dry periods, Li
said.
The administration would intensify monitoring of sewer outlets
in coastal areas and tighten controls over sewage disposal of high
resource-consuming enterprises in coastal areas and the amounts of
major pollutants discharged, Li said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)
