Pollution puts Chinese lake off limits

As algae scum in Lake Taihu cuts off water to 4 million people, a local cleanup advocate remains in jail.

from the June 4, 2007 edition

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Experts blame the explosion of algae on unusually warm weather and low water levels, compounded by the unnaturally high levels of nutrients in the lake, pumped in by polluters. Nitrogen and phosphorous, occurring in effluent from chemical factories, household waste, and agricultural run-off favor development of algae.

Environmental activists, using official data, have fingered 300 local factories – including ones owned by the Swiss elevator manufacturer Schindler, the Japanese electronics firm Sharp, and South Korea's Samsung – as particular offenders. "This part of China has become the workshop of the world," says Mr. Ma. "It supplies many Western countries and companies. We export the products, but we dump the waste in our own backyard."

The latest catastrophe occurred despite efforts by local and central government agencies over the past decade, costing $1.3 billion, to clean up the lake. All polluters were ordered, without result, to halt production in 1999, and water has been diverted from the Yangtze River to try to flush out the lake, to little avail.

Lake Taihu is not an isolated case in a country where economic growth has ridden roughshod over environmental concerns. There are tentative signs, however, that this might be changing.

One is the tone of the China Daily editorial, which warned that "this disaster should put many more cities on guard. It should be a wake-up call to many other local government leaders to move away from their overemphasis on economic growth."

Another possible indicator was the decision last week by the mayor of the southern city of Xiamen to suspend approval of a massive chemical factory slated for construction near a residential district. The plan sparked days of street protests.

Environmental activists are looking to Wu's trial June 12 for evidence to confirm or deny the trend.

"The authorities claim this is a criminal case," says Ma. "They need to show real evidence to the public, otherwise people have the right to question why he, a very outspoken critic" of officials and industrialists in Wuxi, should have been targeted.

"The work he has done to report polluters and to preserve the water resources of his home town is very good work," adds Ma. "That deserves support."

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