China Bans Water Polluting Industries
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Government
China to ban water-polluting paper mills, oil refineries
The long-awaited plan comes as the central government steps up its "war on pollution" after years of industrial development that have left one-third of China's major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water contaminated.
Growing public discontent over the environmental degradation has led to increasing scrutiny of industrial polluters. China's largest energy company China National Petroleum Corporation [CNPET.UL] last month agreed to pay 100 million yuan ($16 million) in compensation after it was accused of leaking benzene into the water system in Lanzhou in northwest China.
But experts say much more needs to be done to protect China's scarce water resources.
"Water is the bottleneck to China's industrial development. Coal miners and factories located in western regions are suffering from water shortage, and if their discharge of dirty waste water is not treated, the pressure will increase," said Alex Zhang, president of McWong Environmental Technology, a United States-based water technology company.
The new plan - published by the State Council, China's cabinet - aims to raise the share of good quality water, ranked at national standard three or above, to more than 70 percent in the seven major river basins, and to more than 93 percent in the urban drinking water supply by 2020.
Source: Yahoo News
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