Pollution control strengthened on China-Russia border rivers

BEIJING—Almost 40 percent of pollution control projects in the Songhua River basin listed in a State Council plan have been completed or are well underway, according to an environmental watchdog official.
“Eighty-four out of 222 pollution control projects approved by the State Council in August last year in a five-year plan for Songhua River pollution control, have been finished or are in the middle of construction,” said the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) official.
A combined investment of about 13.4 billion yuan (1.76 billion U.S. dollars) is needed for the 222 projects, including treating industrial pollution sources and urban sewage and building recycling equipment, he said.
Three northeastern provinces shut down 42 factories failing in pollution control in the Songhua River valley in the first six months, reducing the pollutant discharges by about 6,327 tons in terms of the chemical oxygen demand, the official said.
Environmental authorities of China and Russia took samples from the Heilongjiang, Wusuli, Ergune and Suifen rivers and Xingkai Lake across the border for tests from June 10 to 25 and Aug. 14 to25 under the first joint operation since the two countries signed the Joint Monitoring Plan on Border Rivers in 2006.
They would analyze the samples separately before exchanging data and comparing results at the end of next month, SEPA sources said. Experts will examine the chemical oxygen demand, contents of heavy metals, benzene, and pesticides, riverbed mud, and other indices to determine water quality. Both sides are required to operate the testing program for five years from 2007.
Northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province and Russia’s Khabarovsk have been conducting border river monitoring since 2002in an effort to ensure water quality and improve environmental protection. An accident at a chemical plant in northeastern China sent nitrobenzene and other chemicals into the Songhua River, the largest tributary of the Heilongjiang, in 2005.
The contamination forced Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, to temporarily stop water supplies to 3.8 million people. China’s state assets watchdog has called on major state-owned firms to meet energy saving and pollution reduction targets a year ahead of schedule.
The 154 central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with high energy consumption pollutant discharge levels must guarantee to cut energy consumption per unit of industrial output by 20 percent and major pollutants emissions by 10 percent from the 2005 level in 2010, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). Huang Shuhe, SASAC’s deputy chief, said the industries should strive to reach the compulsory target in 2009.
“The giant companies can serve as a catalyst for energy efficiency improvement and pollution reduction in society as a whole,” Li Rongrong, SASAC’s chief, told a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. “They are both the responsibilities and obligations of businesses. Whether or not they can meet the target has a direct bearing on the whole country.”
The six industries of power, steel, oil and petrochemical, metallurgy, chemicals, and construction materials, consume 70 percent of energy for industry and release the same percentage of sulfur dioxide. China has set the target of reducing its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent and of cutting total pollution by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010. China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 2.78 percent in the first half of 2007 from a year earlier. Meanwhile, its sulfur dioxide emissions fell 0.88 percent, but the chemical oxygen demand, which measures water quality, rose 0.24 percent.
“The SOEs should assign specific staff or departments to analyze and supervise their energy saving and pollution reduction practices and set up monitoring systems to prevent major energy waste and environment degradation,” Huang said.—Xinhua